


Second Chances

by That_Girl_Riddle



Series: The Legends of Us [1]
Category: League of Legends, League of Legends RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-05 00:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 41
Words: 65,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12782928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/That_Girl_Riddle/pseuds/That_Girl_Riddle
Summary: Karina is your average girl, well kind of. She befriended a young Danish boy back in Denmark, but never had the courage to tell him the truth before he left to become a pro League of Legends player. As fate has it, the two eventually cross paths once again, maybe, just maybe, someone will get their second chance.......Note: The only character I own is Karina, Luna, and Amelia





	1. Fate

“Hey guys! Karina here, and I welcome you to my stream. As you guys can see, this isn’t my normal house! That’s because I just moved into my new house in LA, and I will give you all a house tour video once the rest of my stuff comes in. But for now, I will just discover the wonders of NA solo queue and see how it measures up to EU.”  
  
I did a couple hours of streaming, then signed off to see what kind of pizza to order after the moving trucks arrived. I was scrolling though my various social medias, looking at the encouraging messages fans were leaving me on my Twitter and Instagram.  
  
There is a knock on my door, so I go over to check who it is.  
  
“Hello is this Karina?” A man wearing a brown UPS hat asks.  
  
“Yep, that’s me.” I say cheerfully.  
  
“Great. We are the moving company and we have some of your stuff here.”  
  
“Ah, great thank you,” I tell them, “well, come on in and we can start unloading.”  
  
“Yes ma’am.” The men say, heading towards the moving truck and starting to unload my furniture. An hour or so later, the moving men leave and I plop down on my couch and think about all the work I still have to do. I am left with half my furniture set up and the other half in big boxes, still waiting to be reassembled. My train of thought is disrupted by the familiar sound of my Kinetic Sona ringtone.  
  
It’s a blocked number.  
  
“Hello?” I answer, questioning who is on the other side.  
  
“Uh hi, who is this?” A male voice questioned.  
  
“Excuse me, you called me.” I say in my nicest tone, despite being slightly annoyed.  
  
“Oh you’re right, sorry. My name’s Andy and I’m calling about the house rental you posted online.”  
  
“Oh the listing. Yes, I am looking for some roommates, since I don’t need the whole house to myself. Would you like to come see the house, or are there any questions you have?” I ask, trying not to ramble on at the excitement of having roommates.  
  
“Yea, I was wondering if I could rent the whole house?” He says. My jaw drops to the floor and it takes me a couple of seconds to pick it back up. “Hello?”  
  
“Yes, sorry I’m still here. You want to rent out the entire 7500 square foot house?” I ask in amazement.  
  
“Yep, I am looking for a space for a couple of guys, since our house just burned down and we are in a pinch for living space.”  
  
“Oh, okay. The only problem is that I still need to live here, or else I would have nowhere to go, but I just need 1 for myself and we can share the rest of the living space.”  
  
“Oh, right. Of course. Is there any way we can check the house out in person, like right now? We really need to secure a place asap and settle in for work.”  
  
“Um,” I check my watch and its already 7:30pm. Well I guess I can hold off on dinner for a couple more hours. “Yea, for sure.”  
  
“Cool, thank you so much, we’ll be over in about a half an hour.”  
  
“Okay, see you then, bye.” I say hanging up and putting my feet on the glass coffee table. My stomach lets out a growl and I sigh in response. “I should have brought snacks,” I mumble to myself.

  


Thump, thump, thump.

  


There is a knock in my front door and I go over to check who it is, before opening it.  
  
“Hi you must be Karina, I’m Andy.” An Asian man, who is about my height, says as he stretches his hand out for me to shake.  
  
I gladly take his hand, but can’t find the words to actually speak, so I just smile and step to the side, motioning for the 4 of them come in and take a look around. Before coming in, the other 3 boys introduce themselves and shake my hand.  
  
I shut the door and just stare at their backs, just a little dumbfounded. “So, where does the tour start.” Andy asks, as he and the rest of the guys turn around.  
  
“Um, Oh right, the tour. We can start on this floor,” I say leading them out of the foyer and into the open dining room and living room.  
  
“This house was just recently built and it has a total of about 7500 square feet, so there is a lot of room for to live in. On the first floor, we have a living room, dining room, and a huge kitchen, with a table to eat at. This kitchen was modified to be larger than normal, because I cook and bake a lot, so I plan sell goods at the free market down the street. The ceilings here are mostly glass so it lets in a lot of light, but it’s will become a literal oven here when the sun is up. There is also 5 extra rooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 powder rooms, a 25 m pool, and a sauna. Next is upstairs which has the other 6 bedrooms and 3 washrooms.”  
  
The boys follow me upstairs with the occasional “mhm” and nod of their heads, which makes me more nervous about my house showcasing skills.  
  
“So yea, that is a super quick summary of my house, oh there is also a downstairs, with a sauna and kind of like a work out area. Feel free to look around some more, explore all areas of the floors, and if you have any questions, give me a holler.” I say and with a quick clap of my hands as the boys all disperse.  
  
As soon as they split, I let out a sigh and once again, plop myself down on the couch. They look like they would be super fun to have them in the house, but I really can’t do this.

  


DoubleLift’s POV  
  
“Hey Sven, take another look upstairs with me.”  
  
“Sure.” The Dane says following me upstairs. I head straight for the only room that is set up in the house. The door is only slightly open so I place my hand on the white door to push it open a little more.  
  
“Dude what are you doing?” Svenskeren asks, grabbing my arm to stop me from opening the door.  
  
“Checking out the bedrooms,” I say, trying to be as convincing as I can  
  
“Bruh, that’s a girl’s room. You don’t just go into a girl’s room without them knowing.”  
  
“Yea, I know, but I just wanted to check something out.” I say, pushing the door open a little more. “Just stand there and keep watch would ya?”  
  
“Fine, but be quick.” Svenskeren sighs as I enter Karina’s room and take a look around.  
  
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t normally do this, but I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere and I just get this weird feeling.  
  
Anime posters on the bed, all black furniture, lots of stuffed animals, and, hello there, a computer. I shake the mouse and the screen turns from black to a cherry blossom background. I click on the minimized browser and see that she has Bjergsen’s Instagram loaded. Definitely suspicious. I go back to her desktop and open another minimized window. “What the hell?” I whisper to myself.  
  
“Peter, hurry up. I have to go to the washroom.” Svenskeren calls from the hallway.  
  
“Yea, yea, I’m here,” I say as I leave her room and close the door back to the original position. “Dude, she is totally a fan girl. She probably is a psycho too.”  
  
“Aren’t you over reacting a little? She seems nice and pretty cool, not to mention she’s Danish, so I already like her.”  
  
“Wait, how can you tell?”  
  
“The Danish connection, duh. But I also saw a Danish flag in one of her moving boxes.”  
  
“Whatever, I don’t trust her. Go to the bathroom and then we’re going to tell Reggie.”  
  
“Ok, wait what exactly are we telling Reggie?” Sven asks, confused.  
  
“Dude, just go.”

  


Karina’s POV  
“Hey Karina?” There is a tap on my shoulder and Andy appears in front of me  
  
“Yes, did you have a question?” I ask giving him a half smile to hide the fact my anxiety is starting to get to me and my heart is about to bust out of my chest.  
  
“Yea, just a couple of question. How much of the house are you willing to rent out and how do you feel about noise and late nights?” He asks.  
  
“Uh, the price pretty negotiable. I’m down for shared common areas and just a room for myself. As for the noise and late nights, as long as you do your ‘business’ in your own room and put a sock on your doorknob, your good.” I say, which garners a small laugh out of Andy.  
  
“Wow, what a troll answer.”  
  
“Hey, I’m serious, what goes on in your room is your business,” I say jokingly, giving Andy a wink.  
  
“The real question is would YOU be able and willing not to take creepy photos in the middle of us in the middle of the night?” Peter says, walking down the stairs with Dennis and joining Max in the foyer behind us.  
  
“Excuse me?” I ask.  
  
“Uh, Karina don’t worry about him, he’s a little stupid.” Andy chimes in.  
  
“No Reggie, I’m serious,” Peter says as he moves to behind the couch Andy is sitting on. “This girl is a crazy fangirl who’s going to do some weird shit like cut little bits of our hair off and sell it on e-bay or something,” he says, pointing his finger accusingly at me.  
  
“Hold on, what?” Andy asks nobody in particular as he looks at Max and Dennis. They both shrug their shoulders and move to join Andy on the couch.  
  
“Dude, I went into her room. I saw her computer and she had a creepy ass surveillance camera system set up and she has a Bjerg’s Instagram loaded up on her computer.” Peter says, still pointing at me. “She’s definitely a fan and we cant live here.”  
  
“Before we jump to any conclusions, Karina, I have to ask you, do you have anything to say?” Andy asks trying to play mediator.  
  
All 4 boys are staring at me now. Shoot, I don’t want to be here anymore, all I want to do is shrink into my couch cushions and just disappear. “Ahem,” I cough, trying to clear the lump in my throat. “Um, you guys are from TSM, the famous NA League team,” I say, trying not to sound too nervous. “But I am far from a fan girl. I could care less who you are and want you do. The only thing you are to me, right now, is some accusatory bowl cut boy,” I say, leaving a pause for the burn to settle in.  
  
“Oh…” Peter says after realizing his mistake.  
  
“Look, you don’t seem like a crazy fan to me, or else you would have jumped us the moment we walked in.” Andy says, as Dennis giggled and jabbed Peter in the side, causing him to flinch.  
  
“Thanks, because I’m not. Look, the cost of this house is way more than I can handle by myself, so I was just looking for people to help pay the rent and maybe become friends with.” Andy nods his head, seeming to understand where I was coming from.  
  
“Karina, your house is way bigger than our old house was, and they guys are always complaining how there isn’t enough room for everyone, so I think we would all really love to stay in this house and call it our home, for a little while, at least. Also, I’m sorry for this bowl cut dumbass,” Andy says jabbing his finger towards the Peter. “Peter, quickly apologize before she says no.” Andy whispers.  
  
“Hey look, we like this place, and- and you seem cool now, so yea.” Doublelift stutters. “Is there any way you are willing to forgive me for being such a, uh, rude jerk with no manners?” Doublelift says, staring me straight in the eyes.  
  
I stare back at him.  
  
Brown eyes and bushy eyebrows. Hm, he kind of looks like an Asian chipmunk. It’s the teeth. Definitely the teeth that makes him look like a woodland creature. My eyes stay locked with him until he starts to fidget.  
  
“Don’t worry about it. Being called a crazy fan isn’t the worst thing I’ve been called, chipmunk boy,” I say, causing the whole room suddenly bursts into laughter. “But actually,” I say in a low voice, taking a step towards Doublelift, “If you ever snoop around in my room again, I’ll gut you.”  
  
Peter takes a step back, startled and slightly afraid. My straight face cracking into a smile.  
  
“Whoa,” Svenskeren says. “Bro she’s so troll.” The room fills with laughter again.  
  
“Anyways, so we can go ahead with moving in?” Andy asks after we have all settled down.  
  
“Yep,” I say, popping the p. “You can move in whenever you want and we can deal with the logistics and everything tomorrow.  
  
“Sweet. Have you eaten yet?” Reginald asks, checking his watch; Its almost 9:00pm  
  
“No, I was about to order pizza, when you guys called.” I said, and just on queue, my stomach lets out a huge growl and I can already feel my face begin to redden.  
  
“Well we haven’t eaten yet either. As a peace offering, how about I buy dinner tonight?” Doublelift asks, as he stands up and stretches his hand out as a truce. I gladly take the peace offering and Doublelift is already on the phone ordering dinner. The rest of the guys disperse to take another look around the house and decide where everything and everyone is going.  
  
Since it was going to take about 30 minutes for the food to arrive, the boys helped me unpack some plates and cutlery. Svenskeren and Max set up the table as Doublelift and Reggie helped me grab the drink and unpack the rest of the dishes.  
  
It was nice. Having people that are easy to be around with. They all seem warm and welcoming, despite just meeting them a couple of hours ago. Thinking about meeting the rest of their team makes my stomach do a flip. There is a knock on my front door  
  
“Foods here!” I hear Reginald call, as Doublelift, Max and Svenskeren rush out of the kitchen and into the dining area. I quickly follow behind them, carrying a jug of water and setting it on the dining room table, when I notice something odd. Instead of there being 5 plates set up, there are 9.  
  
Before my brain has time to process what is going on, Reginald opens up the door and my lungs tighten. Standing in front of me is a very skinny, tall, blonde boy who has an all too familiar childish grin on his face. Our eyes meet, and for a moment he looks confused, but it quickly turns into surprise.  
  
“Karina?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayoooooo Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave me a comment or two and tell me what you think so far.
> 
> Updates won't be the fastest since I'm a full time university student and work a part time job.
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	2. Rekindling

Bjergsen's POV

I get a call from Peter at around 9:00pm asking me to bring the rest of the team to pick up Chinese food and head over to the new house we're going to be using. He texts me the address and the takeout order, so I gather the rest of the team and we all pile into an Uber. The new house is only about 10 minutes away, so we arrive pretty quickly.

As we walk up the curved tan driveway with the food in hand, I couldn't help but notice how big the house and yard was. There were small trees, shrubs, and a ton of flowers that littered the pathway up to the front door, which was all enclosed by a simple white fence. The house was also a light tan colour with darker brownish tan brick sections. There was also a balcony on the second floor which had its doors open and white drapes calmly blowing into the breeze. We had finally reached the front door and Vincent was the first to knock.

As we waited for someone to answer, I notice that there was one of those cool wooden swings on the porch, which reminded me of the swing I used to have in Denmark.

Finally, the door opens and Reggie gives Vincent a high-five as he takes the food from the young support's hands. I enter after him and take a quick look around at my surroundings, before zeroing in on a girl standing right in front of me. It takes me only a millisecond to realize who she is.

"Karina?" I say, breathlessly, as my body begins moving automatically, instinctively shoving the bag of food I'm carrying into Biofrost's now empty hands. I take big strides to cross they foyer and lessen the gap between us.

"Did you miss me, you dork?" She laughs, breaking into a very familiar, warm smile.

Karina, is older now, but still pretty small. Probably about 5'4? She has pink and light blue polka dot socks on, which matches the same blue as her jeans. Her long black hair starts from the top of her head and changes to a dyed blueish purple colour, which is stands out on her black, silky tank-top she has on, which looks a little formal, but also casual. Her jawline is defined, but not pointed and manly, which complements her chocolate brown eyes, and big, slightly red cheeks.

I am only half a stride away from her when open my arms up for a hug. She leaps up a little and matches my greeting by hooking her arms around my neck and trying to do the same with her legs around my waist.

Karina's POV

Shit, oh shit, oh shit.

I'm not ready. I didn't know he would be here. Not yet at least. Why today? I didn't even tell him I was here yet.

My mind is racing a mile a minute and before I know it, Andy has the door open and a tall, lanky Danish boy is standing at my front door.

"Karina?" He asks in a rather curious tone, tinted with disbelief.

My heart races and I'm worried everyone else can the rapid thumping.

"Did you miss me, you dork?" I manage to say, trying to sound confident and not too nervous.

He widens his already big grin and makes his way towards me.

Hes wearing dark jeans, a Baylife shirt, and the signature grey TSM jacket, which hangs loosely on his wide, but skinny frame. His face looks exactly the same as I remember, with one exception; his big, black rimmed glasses that frame his face nicely.

He is only a few feet away from me when he opens his arm up. I jump up to hook my arms around his neck and then try to do the same with my legs, but because I am so much shorter, I end up dragging him down towards me, causing both of us to fall over.

"Haha, still as clumsy as ever, I see." Soren laughs as we both land on the floor.

"Ah, haha yea, I guess I haven't changed much, but by the looks of it, you've changed a lot." I say, as he gets up and offers his hand to help, which I gladly take. I take another moment to crane my neck up at him and give him a cheeky smile, before realizing that the rest of his team saw the whole fiasco and was still staring.

I give Soren a quick jab with my elbow.

"Oh, sorry, um, guys, this is Karina. We are old friends" he tells the rest of the team who have yet to meet me.

After getting aquatinted with the rest of the team, we all gathered around the table and started passing the around Chinese takeout. Soren decided to place me in between Vincent and Kevin, which was across from him, Peter, and Dennis. Andy, Leena, Max and Parth all sat at the other end of the table.

To my surprise, everyone was quite talkative and almost immediately started bombarding me with questions.

"So, Karina, how do you and our bean-pole mid laner know each other?" Peter asks, slapping Soren on the back

"Well," I began. "Soren and I kind of grew up together."

"What?!" Everyone shouted as they started to bombard us with questions again.

"Dude, you never told us," said Peter.

"Bruh, you grew up with a cute grill?" Dennis adds.

"Was baby BjergerKing cute?" Andy asked.

"Nah, I bet he looked like a troll." Kevin added

"Karina tell us the story of you two." Leena said giddly while clapping her hands

"Um, well," I began again. "Originally I'm from Canada, then I moved back to my mom's home down in Denmark, which was the same town Soren grew up in. Since our moms were best friends, I think we first met...umm?" I pause, struggling to recall exactly when I first met Soren.

"When you were 11," Soren says, filling the blank in my memory. "My mom introduced us one afternoon and you just walked straight into my room, sat down, and watched me play video games for the rest of the day."

"Ah, so were you guys like high school sweethearts that went wrong?" Andy asks, eyeing Soren and I.

"No, no, no, nothing like that." Soren answered defensively as his cheeks begin to tint red. "More like just old friends. Honestly, some little girl just showed up in my house one day and my mom made me play with her while she was visiting. I ignored her, so she he just sat there while I played GameCube."

That earned Soren a round of "Ooos" and "Bruh that's brutal" from Dennis, Peter, and Vincent.

"Well, I was the nice kid, who wasn't antisocial and actually wanted to make friends." I shot back. "Also, the first time I saw Soren, he was shorter and way smaller than me, despite being 2 years older."

"Girl please, guess who's taller now," Soren sassed back, sitting up a little straighter.

"Bish please," I respond in a mocking tone, "You only think you're big because of your ego." I snap my fingers from side to side.

"Bjerg where has this girl been all my life? Shes absolutely savage." Peter says in disbelief.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Vincent counting his fingers. The others catch on and we all shift our attention towards the new support. He looks up in surprise to see us all staring at him. "Wait, if Soren is 21, then Karina you're only 19?"

"Yep," I say popping the p at the end.

"So where are you going to go to university?" The fellow Canadian asked.

"Oh I'm just finishing my last semester in Denmark. My last couple of courses are online."

"Wait seriously?" Andy asked in disbelief as I nod my head.

"Oh right! I forgot you're like super smart Karina." Soren says slapping his forehead.

"Uh...Thanks?" I say, a little offended he forgot.

"Karina is legit a genius. She skipped like 3 grades and probably has a Phd in something, right?"

"Nope I'm just finishing my degree."

"But that is still pretty impressive," Leena adds. "What are you studying?"

"I decided to major in business with a dual focus in marketing and finance. This semester is my last year, so hopefully I can find a job."

We eventually finish eating and clean up before everyone congregates in the living room to decide where everyone's room will be. With not much debate, the rooms were assigned and the boys all went to their rooms to turn in for the night, while I grabbed some extra pillows and blankets for them from one of the boxes. Before turning in for the night myself, I typed up a quick post for my blog, finished a drawing, washed up, and then climbed into my bed. Only after a couple minutes of settling in for the night, there was a quiet knock on my door. I look up towards the bathroom to see a tall shadow standing under my doorframe.

 

***

When the sun shines, we shine together  
Told you I'll be here forever  
Said I'll always be your friend  
Took an oath that I'm a stick it out till the end  
Now that it's raining more than ever  
Know that we still have each other  
You can stand under my umbrella

***

"Karina?" Soren's tired voice calls.

"Yea?" I answer, trying not to sound too tired myself. "Can't sleep?"

"No, I've been having trouble sleeping the last few days," he admits. "Do you mind if I, um..."

"Hm?" I mumble, half asleep and not sure what he wants.

"Would you mind, if um... if I could..." he awkwardly trails off again. Suddenly, it is clear to me what he is referring to, as I shift to the far side of my bed, staying under the warm covers.

"You haven't changed that much after all," I laugh as quiet footsteps make their way towards me and one side of my bed dips.

"Goodnight Karina," he says once he settles in.

"Night Soren," I respond before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Insert sound castors made when Huantzer Played Cotton Tail Teemo*
> 
> Hello and thank you for once again reading. really love wring cute couple ish dating scenes... Even though Bjergsen and Karina aren't dating...yet.... Or am I lying about that???? But It's seriously like my guilty pleasure and the cheesier the better.
> 
> So, while I was writing this chapter, the ending just made me think of Umbrella by Rhianna and it reflects how Karina values Bjergsen's friendship, which is similar to how I value my friends. Through thick and thin I will stick with you.
> 
> Anyways, see you next chapter!
> 
> ~MemeDream Team


	3. Oops

Karina's POV

"Hey guys, I'm going to the store, do you want anything?" I call to the boys in the scrim room, who are busy in solo queue.

"Can you grab me a pack of Oreos, Kar?" Soren calls from his computer.

"Oh and those Asian stick things that are covered in chocolate and strawberry!" Dennis adds.

"You mean Pokey?" I ask as I grab my keys off the counter and head towards the foyer.

"Yea, those things," he confirms as I lace up my black Nike's. "Soren you SHIT! Why didn't you Zilean ult me?" I hear Dennis yell as I close and lock the front door.

Since its been a couple of weeks since the boys moved in and I've grown to love how loud and troll they all are, even the silent support, Vincent. I have also learned quite a few "interesting" things about the team.

I quickly learned how really, and I mean really, incapable they all were at feeding themselves, so I ended up becoming the cook of the house, which I didn't mind, because I got to test out new recipes every week. I also expected them to be a lot messier, but according to Peter, they were, "too busy to make a mess". Well, everyone except Vincent, who seemed to leave a trail of food wherever he went.

Apparently, in the old house they had, Doublelift kept clogging their toilets and once it overflowed and , well, some not so nice things started flowing out. Another thing Regi warned me about, was to never let the boys into the kitchen alone, and by alone he means without someone else with them, holding onto a fire extinguisher.

After a 15 minute walk, I finally arrived at the grocery store to pick up food for the house for the week. It sounds a little creepy, but I've been watching the guys since they arrived and have been taking mental notes on what they like to eat, what they don't like, and what they are allergic to. I've also taken it upon myself to do the cooking and shopping for the house, because if I didn't, the boys would eat takeout and ramen everyday.

But actually, I am seriously surprised on their diets and how some of them aren't like a billion pounds yet. Obviously Peter and Kevin eat the healthiest with their protein shakes, vegetables, and fruits. As for the other 3? Well, they eat so much instant noodles, chips, and RedBull, that its become another food category.

It only takes me an hour to grab and pay for all the meal prep food and snacks. The cashier assistant helps me bag all the items as I fish for my car keys inside my purse. My hand finally makes contact, with a metallic jingle. Suddenly, it dawns on me that I didn't bring my car...crap.

I let out an audible sigh, as I stare at the bags of food I just bought, wondering how I'm going to carry it all home.

"Miss? Shall I help you take these to the car?" The assistant asks, motioning towards the bags.

"Uh, no, I completely forgot I didn't bring a car," I tell him. I take one more look at the bags to try to figure out which bags go around each arm so they balance out and I don't tip over while walking home.

After some fiddling, I manage to find a good combination and waddle out of the store to make my way back. By now, the sun is fully out and above me. I look up to see that there is not a single cloud in sight, which means by the time I get home, I'm going to be absolutely drenched in sweat.

With a sigh of regret, I start the painful trek back home. I can feel my arms and legs beginning to burn from both the sun and the unusual added weight to them. I take a minute to put the groceries down on the cement, so I can take a second to rest.

While I massage my arms in an attempt to regain some circulation in them, I see a shirtless man running down the sidewalk towards me. I grab hold of my bags and shuffle them out of his way. As the man gets closer, I recognize that it is Kevin, who is probably out on his daily run.

I wave my arms to catch his attention and he quickly notices and takes his earbuds out as his run slows to a stop. "Hey Karina," he says, slightly out of breath, "whatcha doing with all the bags?"

"Oh, I bought these for the house, but had a brain fart and forgot I didn't bring my car, so now I'm stuck carrying it all home."

"Oh man, rip you. Here, let me help you bring them home," he offers, reaching down to grab one of the bags on the cement.

"I don't want to bother you with this thing and ruin your workout," I say, trying to keep my eye contact with him, which was pretty hard. If you haven't already guessed it, nerdy gamer boy Kevin, or Hauntzer as many more people know him, is pretty cut, and with his shirt off, it is extremely hard to only stare at his face and not have your eyes wander every where else. And by everywhere, I actually mean EVERYWHERE; biceps, triceps, chest, the 6 pack, V-line, and to top it all off, a cute smile that makes his ears move slightly upwards.

But enough of that, because seriously, I need to stop staring.

"No, no its okay. Its super nice of you to get food for the house and I don't mind helping a pretty damsel in distress out," he assures me with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

"Pppft, where?" I laugh as we grab the bags and head home.

We finally arrive home and after unloading all the groceries into the fridge, I head up to my room to grind out some solo queue. After a day of practicing nothing but Caitlyn, I decide to log off the client and retire to my bed for the rest of the night

I check my social medias and decide to upload a new picture to Instagram and twitter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyy! I think I ended this on a weird note...? But I wasn't sure where to go with this section, but surprise! There will be a double update tonight because I had some more time to write this weekend and I have midterms coming up next week, so I probably won't write at all.
> 
>  
> 
> See you next chapter!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	4. Knight In Sweating Armor

Karina @KarinaBean

"Awe, look who arrived just in time! @lolHauntzer My knight in sweating armor <3"

(Insert Picture)

 

Yiliang Peng @TSMDoublelift

Replying to @KarinaBean @lolHauntzer

"Wow, what a cutie he is."

 

KarinaBean @KarinaBean

Replying to @TSMDoublelift @lolHauntzer

"BISH back off, you already have @Biofrostlol

 

Vincent @Biofrostlol

Replying to @TSMDoublelift @Karinabean

"YOU CAN HAVE HIM!"

 

Kevin @lolHauntzer

Replying to @TSMDoublelift @KarinaBean @Biofrostlol

"Nah, Karina is bae. Weebs stick together :P"

 

Michael Kurylo @BunnyFuFuu

Replying to @lolHauntzer @KarinaBean

"Do I sense a new ship? <3<3<3 #Kevina #Karevin #YouGuysHaveShitNames #YarnelloBear

 

Nicolaj Jensen @C9Jensen

Replying to @BunnyFuFuu @lolHauntzer @KarinaBean

"Kids these days, no respect. You forgot to ask @Bjergsen for his blessing first!!!

 

Kevin @lolHauntzer

Replying to @BunnyFuFuu @C9Jensen

"NO! Karina says no too XD. Her daddy Bjerg would kick my ass."

 

Karina @KarinaBean

Replying to @lolHauntzer @BunnyFuFuu @C9Jensen

"WHAT?!?!?! Actually, you mean Soren would TRY to kick your ass, cuz beanpole weak af. (Sorry @Bjergsen Don't hate me pls <3 )

 

Soren Bjerg @Bjergsen

Replying to @lolHauntzer @KarinaBean

"Just invite me to the wedding"

 

Normally Soren would be all over this mindless banter, but his tweet seemed different this time. Kind of like he doesn't want to take part or just doesn't care. I make a mental note to ask him about this later.

The aroma of BBQ filles the air, making my mouth water in anticipation for the meat to be cooked.

"Yo, Dennis, pass me the kimchi please," I ask

"Dude, how can you eat this stuff, it tastes like feet," Svenskeren says as he hands me the small dish.

"Bruh, this stuff is great with rice," Hauntzer says, defending the honour of the beloved side dish.

"Yea, it is pickled and spicy goodness," I join in Hauntzer's defence.

"Eh, I agree with Dennis. That stuff is just..." Bjergsen shudders.

The first round of BBQ meat is done and we all snatch a few pieces and chat while we eat. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Soren trying to flag down a worker.

"Whats wrong?" I ask, noticing he hasn't touched his food yet.

"I, um..." He hesitates, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm not very good at using chopsticks yet. I just kinda stab my food with one of the stick." I can see him quietly revert back, as he's probably a little embarrassed. A small giggle escapes my lips as I grab my ponytail and pull it down.

"Wait Bjerg, you don't use chopsticks?" Doublelift asks in disbelief, almost slapping the cup of tea out from Biofrost's hands.

"Dude, you've been in America for like, 3 years, how have you never used chopsticks yet?" Hauntzer asks grabbing onto Bjergsen's shoulders and giving them a joking shake.

"Ppft, Eu mechanics... Na>Eu," Biofrost adds, causing the rest of the table to laugh at the rarity of the young support memeing.

"Here, gimmie your chopsticks." I take the chopsticks and tie the small rubber hair elastic around the ends. "Here," I say, handing the utensil back and grabbing his hand, "look, you just have to hold it this way and apply pressure here, and there." Soren keeps his fingers in place and tries to move his index fingers up and down to manipulate the chopstick, and miraculously picks up a piece of beef bulgolgi. He looks to me with a child like smile and then turns his head back to eat the piece of meat, but drops it just before it reaches his mouth.

I can feel Bjergsen let out a sigh of frustration as he sits there, staring at the almost accomplishment. I finish the rice sitting on top of my own chopsticks before I snatch the piece of meat from his place. "Here," I say, holding it up to his face. He hesitates for a second, but then gladly eats it. "We will work on your food mechanics later," I joke, "and this is also why we have spoons, you dummy."

"Wait, I thought the spoons were only for soups," he says, in amazement.

"Dude, you're so dumb," Doublelift says as Bjergsen retaliates by throwing a cooked mushroom from the grill at him.

"Happy Birthday, you ex CLG trash."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FFS The beginning of this chapter was so awkward to write. I don't ever use my Twitter, so I have no idea what the layout was and then finding the proper account for each pro was a pain. IDK just writing and rewriting Tweet for was too weird 5 me.
> 
> Welp, until next time, my friends.
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	5. Newbie to Jealousy

*Bang, bang, bang.*

"SOREN MOVE YOUR ASS!" I yell from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Yea yea, I'll be done in a sec. Its just- I can't seem to..." Soren trails off behind the closed door.

"Soren, we are going to be late. Just let me in to brush my teeth and comb my hair. You can keep doing whatever is taking you so dang long in there," I say as I bang on the door once more. The door swings open, revealing a dishevelled and slightly annoyed mid laner. An urge to laugh overcomes me as I walk in, but he shoots me a stern look, causing me to stifle it.

"My hair," he sighs. "I just cant seem to get it right today and its pissing me off."

"Haha," I laugh as he shoots me another frustrated look. "Here, let me see." I turn around and make Soren sit on the edge of the bathtub as I run my fingers through his hair, or at least try to.

"You have way too much gel in. It kinda feels like cement," I say trying to separate the gelled clumps of hair. "Just wash it all out and dry it so I can fix it." He obediently listens to my advice and goes over to the detachable shower head to wash the gel out as I begin getting ready.

With the newly washed and dried hair, I begin to work my magic. "So, um do you even know what your doing?" He asks as his eyes roll up to look at my work.

"Mmmm more or less," I say distractedly as I wet my fingers in water to make sure certain strands go where I want it to. "Now stop moving, or else your hair is going to end up looking like Peters."

"HEY! I HEARD THAT!" Peter yells from the hallway. "And hurry up we gotta go in 15 minutes."

"Yea, yea LiftLift don't worry bout us," I holler back. "So, what am I supposed to wear today?" I ask in a quieter tone, still fiddling with Soren's hair.

"Uh, I think Reggie has extra jerseys and jackets and stuff if you wanted to wear that."

"I checked in the merch closet, but you guys don't have my size. How about a C9 jersey?"

"You traitor," Soren jokes, "We got you a badge so you shouldn't have any problem getting in and out of the areas."

"Mmmmkay. There your hair is finished you infant," I say jokingly as Soren stands up and admires my handy work.

"Not bad... for a girl, I mean," He jokes as he places his phone on the countertop. He touches his hair, making sure it's perfect from every angle.

"Hey, don't touch my masterpiece. Its still drying." I slap Soren's hand away from his hair. He just sticks his tongue out at me as I kick him out of the bathroom so I can get ready.

"Hey Karina, wait, my phone." He says turning around to come back in.

"Nope," I say nudging the door with my foot so it closes on him. "You can have it back in the car," I call from one side of the door.

"I just HAD to share a bathroom with you," I hear Soren groan from the other side.

"You know you love me," I holler back.

***

As soon as we arrive to the studio, the van door opens and the boys all start to file out. I hop out before right after Vincent and before Soren and just marvel at all the attention the team is getting from the fans.

"Welcome to our life, ya noobie," Soren says as he clamps his hands down on my shoulders and guides me towards the front doors.

The other members are happily waving to the fans and occasionally stopping for a selfie or to sign something. Soren waves too and the crowd instantly starts the dominant 'TSM' chant. Among the cheering and busy atmosphere, I can hear the occasional "Biodaddy" and "Bjerger-King" scream, which makes me laugh and trip going up the stairs.

Thankfully I put my hands out to brace myself for the fall and avoid smashing my face on the cement. Soren immediately notices the lack of girl beneath his hands and scrambles to help me up. He stands on the left side of me to block the fans seeing my bloodied hand and equally as red face.

"Once a klutz, always a klutz," Soren laughs, leaning his head down towards mine.

***

"First aid, first aid, where are you first aid tent?" I mutter to myself as I walk around aimlessly. Distracted by the pain in my hands and how embarrassed I made the team, I ran right into someone. "Oof. I'm so sorry," I said, bowing my head slightly as the man turns around.

"Hey, that's no problem," he smiles. "Whoa, who did you get into a fight with?" He asks. I notice him looking down at my palms.

"Oh, uh, the cement?" I say nervously, hoping he doesn't just burst out in laughter. "Oh, hey Jack!" I say, finally noticing he and the rest of the C9 team were standing around me.

"Follow us, we have a first aid kit in our warm up room," Jack tells me.

"Oh, thank you," I say as I follow the team. We get to their room and it looks very much the same as the TSM room, except the TSM merchandise is replaced with the bright blue C9 merchandise. I take a seat in one of the C9 chairs as Meteos grabs a first aid kit and sits in the chair in front of me.

"When did you fall?" He asks, taking out the disinfectant.

"Right when we got here. I fell right at the entrance, in front of all the fans, I was so emb- Ow!" The sting of Meteos blotting on disinfectant on my scraped-up hands causes me to lose my train of though and pull my hands back.

"Bruh, stop being such a baby," Jensen says, walking by and giving me a playful slap on the back. Metoes takes my hands back an continues with his work. The room is buzzing in anticipation for C9's match with TSM.

"You ready for your match?" I ask.

"mmm, more or less. Hey Karina," Metos asks.

"Yea?"

"Would you like to, you know...go on a date with me some time?" The curly haired jungler asks out of the blue.

"Oh," I say, slightly taken aback, but I can already feel my cheeks redden "Sure, I'd love to. Just text me whenever you're free."

"Okay cool, and your hand is all finished." Meteos announces, clapping his hands, and startling everyone.

"Thank you so much, maybe I should have worn a C9 shirt today." I tell Metos, giving him a hug. "Good luck today you guys, hope you don't get clapped like Jensen normally does!"

"HEY!" He yells after me as I run out of the room.

\--

"And TSM takes C9 down after an intense 45 minute game! GG!", Phreak announces for the rest of the arena and everyone at home watching, to hear.

\--

After the fan meet and dinner with C9, we all went back to the C9 house just to relax and hang out a bit.

"So Karina, how did you and Monkey meet?" Impact asked.

"I bet Nic stalked her before actually talking to her." Sneaky laughs.

"Actually, we bumped into each other on the EU server years ago. We both played mid and this boy was being a little bitch and wanted mid, but I called it first, so he insta locked Ori. Then the rest was history"

"Wow man, what a dick move," Bjerg says punching Jensen in the arm.

"Hey, to my defence you still suck at mid, and because of me you were a great ADC," Jensen says crossing his arms and pouting his lips at me.

"Yo you're an ADC main?" Doublelift asks surprised.

"Yep, I liked mid mages, but Nic always bullied me into taking ADC because he said some day he was going to be a pro, and if he wasn't it was my fault."

"Hey, I'm a pro now, aren't I?" Jensen asks in defence.

"Not if you keep getting clapped by Soren you ain't," I sass back, which earns a round of oooos from the rest of the guys.

"You know you love me," Jensen says as he holds his arms out wide, like he's waiting for a hug.

"Fuck that, I like Kevin more," I say as I lean in towards Hauntzer, who is sitting next to me on the couch.

"Bro, she's my girl now," Hauntzer taunts as he puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me in closer.

"Whatchu going to do about that Jensen? Boy just stole your girl." Doublelift laughs.

"Ppft, I don't care," Jensen says, trying to act cool and play it off. "I got my best butt buddy right here, right Snacky?" Jensen throws his arm around the blonde ADC and leans his head in towards Sneaky's

"YENSEN NOOOOO," He hollers like a teen going through puberty and tries to squirm away, but to no success. "Memeos is my one and only butt buddy." Sneaky finally frees himself from Jensen's grasp and tries to run away. Jensen pops up from the couch right after and chases him around the house.

"Zachary Scuderi! Love me senpai!" Jensen hollers, as the rest of us erupt into laughter, watching the two monkey around.

Hauntzer still has his arm around me and it isn't until now that I start to get really warm. I look around at the rest of the boys, but they all seem fine and not uncomfortably hot at all.

"Hey Kevin, you're really hot."

 

SOREN POV

"Hey Kevin, you're really hot," I mimic Karina's voice as I make my way from the living room to the patio of the C9 house. I cant believe she called him hot.

She never used to be someone would comment like that people, for gods sake she's never complimented me like that when we were in Denmark. I let out an exasperate sigh and lean on the railing, putting my head in my hands.

"Hey Bjerg, you alright?" Svenskeren asks, putting his hand on my shoulder. I don't have the energy to respond, so I just shake my head

"Its the thing about Kevin and Karina, isn't it?" Sven asks, joining me on the railing.

I chew on my lip for a couple of seconds, deciding whether to come clean or just try to lie myself out if this like I normally do.

"Yea, I don't know. I don't normally get like this and maybe I'm overreacting, but I don't know. She seems to talk to him so freely, like they have known each other for ever."

"Do you like her?"

It take's me a minute to think about Sven's question. Do I like her? I mean, she's Karina, the cute bubbly girl who's always been there for me growing up.

"Was it that obvious?"

"Dude, right after she said Kevin was hot, you stormed out of there."

"Oh, haha. I don't know. Ever since she's reappeared in my life, I feel like she's still the same person I liked when I was little. I don't know how she feels about me either, besides, I'm with Nikki still."

"Dude, she's your kryptonite. I've never seen you stressed out like this about anything else before." Svenskeren laughs. "And I thought you and Nikki weren't doing so well."

"We are in a weird place right now. I like her still, but I also like Karina."

"Maybe you should tell her? Its fine to like two people at the same time, you know." Svenskeren says, giving me a straight, serious look, which was unusual for such a carefree guy.

"I want to, but I'm not good with words." I say, looking down at the realization of my shortcoming.

"Practice then, just like you do league. Practice talking to other girls so you're ready to talk to Karina."

"Yea, you're right. I'll do that," I say straightening up and trying to channel my new-found confidence. "Let's go back inside, now."

Sven and I made our way back to join the rest of the guys, when I hear Karina say, again, "No, dude, Kevin, you are actually really hot." The comment stung, but I reminded myself to just breathe and to not think about it.

"I think you have a fever," Karina says, while pinned to the floor by Hauntzer.

"No I'm not. You just like calling me hot," He teases

"Whats going on?" I ask, slightly confused at the scene in front of me.

"Karina and Kev have been fighting for the last 10 minutes on if he's sick or not. So she went to touch his forehead to check and then they kind of just ended like this," Biofrost informs me.

"Karina was winning for a bit, too." Jensen said.

"Yea, until this asshat decided to get off the couch and pin me on the floor," Karina said, still struggling to get out from under Hauntzer's grip.

"This is your fault. I told you I'm fine and you said, and I quote, 'I'm sure you're sick, so fight me'."

"Bruh, you never actually fight a girl," Meteos chimes in, arm around Sneaky who nods in agreement.

"She ain't a girl, shes a troll," Doublelift jokes and Hauntzer nods his head in agreement.

"Fine, let me use my girlish charms to seduce you," Karina says, as she slowly moves her head towards Hauntzer the best she could without being able to move her arms. I see Kevin eyes widen and slowly move his head lower to Karina in response.

Closer and closer they inched. Fuck! Oh god, not like this, I can't watch. I turn my head to the side to distract myself of what was going to happen.

"See I told you, you have a frickin fever you dumbass!" Karina shouts. I turn to look back at the two and see their foreheads pressed together and Hauntzer's eyes closed, before they shoot open in shock. His face turned bright red at the realization of his mistake and he released Karina, allowing her to sit back up.

"See, I got you fooled into thinking I was going to kiss you. You ever going to challenge my girlish charms again?" Karina sassed.

"Hey! I'm sick remember, clearly I'm not thinking properly, so no you still don't have any charm." He says defensively.

"Sure man you ain't fooling anyone," Jensen says showing the picture she took of the two on the floor.

"Hey Nic! Delete that!" Karina shouted lunging for his phone.

"Nuh, uh, uh," Jensen says dodging her attack and putting his phone is his jean pocket. "This is for my safe keeping."

"Nicolaj!" Karina whines, sitting back down on the couch.

"Yo its almost midnight, we should go home because we got scrims tomorrow," Svenskeren informs us.

"I'll call an Uber," Smoothie says.

A few minutes pass and the Uber Is finally here. We all say our good-byes and pile into the Uber to head home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! So this is a pretty long chapter to make up for the shorter 2 before this and the lack of writing I will be doing in the coming week since I have 2 midterms.
> 
> T.T
> 
> Pray for me guys, because imma fail
> 
> But someone is jealous of Karina's relationship with some of the other boys. Hehehe
> 
> Anyways, bye for now
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	6. House Mom

Find someone who will look at you like how Bjergsen and DoubleLift look at eachother  
\----------

The last couple of weeks have been crazy. They boys are all busy going for the final push of summer split and I'm busy studying for my finals next week. Sadly, I won't be able to watch their last match of the season with them because I can't fly to Toronto and make it back in time for me to attend my graduation ceremony.

"Hey Karina!" Doublelift says as he takes a seat next to me at the kitchen table. "What're you studying?"

"Hey Peter, just some psychology stuff. I gotta learn how to untilt you guys when you're 4000km away in Toronto."

"Whoa are you saying we're going to make it to finals? Maybe we might loose and play for 3rd."

"You idiot," I say, giving him a hugely exaggerated facepalm. "Top 4 teams are going to Toronto, so even if you lose this week you are still going."

"Oh...Right. I forgot about that." Doublelift says while he rubs the back of his head in embarrassment. "Anyways, I should leave you to studying."

"Wait nooo don't leave," I whine. "I was just about to take a break."

"Break? Did I hear a break? Cookie break?" Bjergsen says as he pops his head into the kitchen and catches the tail end of our conversation.

"Yea, but none for you, you lazy ass," Doublelift tells him, which prompts the two boys to get into a fake sparing match.

"Say that to my face, Bowl Cut." Bjerg teases as he playfully bops Doublelift on the head.

"Did I hear someone say cookies?" Svenskeren asks walking into the kitchen with Biofrost and Hauntzer.

"I just came for the Bowl Cut," Hauntzer says, nonchalantly before hopping on the counter of the kitchen island.

"Hey!" I yell. "Kevin get your stinky ass off the counter, I just cleaned that this morning!" I proceed to grab a wooden spoon from the drawer and threaten to smack him with it." He dodges my first swing and runs to use Biofrost as a shield.

"What are you going to do Karina? You can't hurt this poor innocent support can you?" He teases, mimicking my movements, so I couldn't get a good shot at him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, since when did I become a shield for you people?" Biofrost cries out while being jerked around.

"Dude, you're a support." Sven says as Biofrost reddens at the realization of his mistake.

"Awe Vinny is embarrassed. That's so cute," I say in a cutsie voice before giving up on hitting Hauntzer and giving the support a supportive (XD) hug.

"Group hug!" Hauntzer shout shouts as he wraps his arms around Biofrost and I, before I have a chance to get away. The rest of the team joins in and I'm sandwiched between Biofrost and Svenskeren.

My breath begins to get shallower while we are in close quarters. Too much contact I say to myself, trying to wiggle away from the situation.

Reggie comes into the kitchen and decides he rather push us over than join in the hug. We all crumple onto the floor, the boys laughing and enjoying the moment.

I scramble off the floor and run upstairs, leaving the boys standing in the middle of the kitchen, wondering what had just happened.

I shut my bedroom door and lean my back against it while I slide down, bringing my knees up to my chest and pulling myself in close. My breaths are still short and shallow as I bury my head into my arms, waiting for it to pass.

Good thoughts. Think about only good things. It was just a lot of, touching.

Contact.

They didn't mean it. They didn't know. Relax and pull yourself together.

I've gotten pretty good at piecing myself together, so it only takes me 5 or so minutes to return to my usual semi-normal state. I head back downstairs to see all the guys sitting on the stairs, whispering quietly to each other.

"No, you go talk to her," Doublelift says to Hauntzer, who then jabs Bjergsen out of his focus.

"Dude, you do it. You know her better than we do."

"Um, what are you guys doing?" I ask as the 5 of the jump slightly at the sound of my voice before Bjergsen is shoved to stand up.

"Um, you kinda just bolted out of there," he says, sounding more like a question.

"Oh, yea," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "Uh, when Andy pushed us over, it wasn't, um, exactly the nicest thing to do this week...." I trail off awkwardly as I see the other 4 boys' eyes widen before turning around and Bjergsen's face redden at the realization of what I was trying to say.

"Oh," Is all he manages to say. "Sorry, I- we didn't know."

"No its fine now. Let's go downstairs and make those cupcakes!" I cheer, trying to breakthrough the obvious embarrassment they all felt.

I guess I forgot to mention, one other thing I'm really good at; making cover stories.

***

"Okay, two and a half cups of flour sifted into the big bowl." I instruct Bjerg to do as I hand Sven the whisk for the eggs.

"Karina, this is too hard," Doublelift complains as he is grating the lemon rind. "Can't we make cookies instead of cupcakes?"

"Peter, NO!" I shout, snatching the lemon away from him. "Dude, don't grate so deep, you just want the bright yellow part. The other stuff will turn everything bitter."

"Like I said, its too hard."

"Stop being such a little bitch," Hauntzer says from the kitchen sink.

"Shut up Kev, you're just washing stupid fruit."

"But raspberries are good," Biofrost argues as he stirs the water and gelatin mixture.

"Okay, all done with the flour," Bjerg says clapping his hands together, creating a small cloud of flour. "Kar, come here for a sec."

"Hmm? Did you screw up again," I ask looking at the bowl filled with flour.

"No, I just wanted to do this," he says as he firmly claps my cheeks between each hand leaving a flour imprint on my face and my lungs to tighten again.

"Soren!" I yelp, surprised at his action. He laughs at my reaction and goes in for a zap on my sides, which causes another set of handprints to be left on my favourite black V-neck.

"You are so dead buddy," I say, shaking off the feeling as I chase him around the kitchen island.

"Can't catch me," He teases, sticking his tongue out.

"Wanna bet?" I ask, grabbing a bit of flour off the counter.

"Fight me shorty."

"Abracadabra!" I shout, blowing the flour out of my hand and onto his face and glasses. "Bitch gotchu now." I close the distance between him and load my palms with flour.

Instead trying to defend himself, Bjerg begins coughing uncontrollably. His teammates who were just laughing at our little fight are instantly hyperaware.

"Oh my god, Soren," I say. I hear his coughing quickly turn into heavy wheezing and I realize he's having an asthma attack. "Soren where's your inhaler?" I ask, but he is unable to answer and I look up to the rest of the team for an answer but they don't know either.

I race out of the kitchen and into the living room to grab a spare inhaler out of my backpack. I run back into the kitchen, nearly taking a spill on the flour covered tiles.

"Hey, here." I try to give the inhaler to Bjerg, but he is freaking out and wheezing too much to pull himself together to use it. "Soren hey, you need to relax. You're giving yourself a panic attack on top of your asthma attack." I uncap the inhaler and shake it so it is ready to be used.

"Soren look at me." I say as I put my arm around his waist and angle my forearm up so I can rub his back to get his breathing under control. He is able to follow my movement and attempts to mimic the rhythm with his breathing. I hold up the now ready to use inhaler in my free hand and he moves his head closer to it.

"Ready? Take a deep breath in." I push the button, and he receives the puff. I look at Bjerg, who is looking into the distance over my shoulder. I count to 3 in my head before moving my hand back down his back and giving him a final pat as he releases his breath.

The room stands still for a few moments, before someone breaks the silence.

"You okay man?" Doublelift asks.

"Yea," Bjerg says, sounding a little distant, "I think... Uh, I'm kinda tired, so I'm just going to take a nap on the couch." I let go of Bjergsen as Hauntzer and Svenskeren escort him to the living room couch as Doublelift runs upstairs to grab pillows and a blanket, which leaves just me and Biofrost in the kitchen.

"I um, should finish these cupcakes," I say awkwardly, trying to hide my trembling hand behind my back. Biofrost just nods and returns to working away at the sauce. I as finish the rest of the recipe, get the cupcakes into the oven, before washing the dishes.

"You shouldn't feel so bad about it," Biofrost says, breaking the silence.

"hm?" I say, still distracted.

"Soren, I mean. He really likes you and I'm sure he knows it was an accident. Don't worry about if that will ruin your friendship or not."

"Wise words for such a young guy. Who did you learn it from?" I complement as he comes up beside me and puts the sauce pan in the soapy water. Biofrost lingers over my shoulder for a couple of seconds, before grabbing my wrist and pulling it of the water.

"What are you doing?" I shout as I instinctively rip my arm from his grip and take a couple steps back.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you freak out. Its ju-just," Biofrost says, apologetically.

"Just what?" I question, trying to find out exactly what he saw.

"Your hand. You've been shaking for a while." He says bluntly while looking me in the eye.

"Oh, that whole situation just reminded me of when I was younger. I just wasn't prepared for it." I say. Biofrost's eyebrows raise at me as if he was about to challenge my story, but instead just lets out a sigh and relaxes his expression.

"Oh, and my mom just taught me to be aware of everyone in my surroundings to better understand the people around me."

"Ah I see, and sorry I was being a spaz earlier," I admit.

"Don't worry. I'm here if you want to talk. Besides I like having you around the house."

"How come?"

"Hmm, you're like a mom," He says bluntly. "I- I- mean-, uh, I mean you don't look like a mom or anything. You just are always just very kind and taking care of us and making meals so we don't get super fat with takeout all the time." The young support's cheeks redden to the hue of a tomato before promptly turning around and leaving the kitchen.

"Haha, well in that case, I don't mind being the mom of the house." I laugh with my spirts feeling lifted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Hi everyone and thank you for reading once again. Sadly, starting today I wont be able to type for about a week since I just sprained/broke my hand/wrist. I know that kinda seems odd and confusing, but just trust me when I say, never let a kid fall while holding your hand.
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam!


	7. Sorry

I stare out one of the many windows in the kitchen, absentmindedly fanning the cupcakes that had just come out of the oven so they could cool quicker. The windows screamed at me to be cleaned so the dim light that currently enters the room is replaced with warm, bright rays.

***

A gift.

That's what she brought to class that day, a gift for her whole class, but what they gave her in return marked the beginning.

They would never know how many hours she spent carefully mixing the flour with the sugar, eggs, and whatever else the recipe called for. Staying up late, frosting each cake to perfection before strategically placing decorations on them to look beautiful. Arranging and rearranging their order so the colours complimented each other and didn't look cluttered.

The clatter of the silver tray being knocked from her hands as the fruits of her labour learned to fly before falling from grace. Allowing herself to be shoved around countless times, but never shoving back because she didn't want to hurt them.

She watched as all her hard work would not be tasted by the people she spent countless hours with, but with the ground with which she ended up on at the end the end of each and every day.

***

The cupcakes were finally cool enough to start decorating. I take the freshly made lemon frosting from the fridge before throwing it into a piping bag. Generous swirls of frosting, fresh raspberries, and drizzle the raspberry sauce over each cupcake before fresh lemon rind is grated overtop to give them the final touch.

I pour some raspberry green tea into tea cups, before setting them down on a small plate with the cupcake, and bring each of the boys their dessert. Some of the guys are streaming, so as soon as I pass the camera, their twitch chat goes crazy asking who the new grill was and who I was dating on the team.

"Holy shit Karina these look so nice," Hauntzer says looking away from his game to admire my creation and holding it up for Twitch chat to see. "Guys, tell me these don't look like S+ tier cupcakes."

"Gank! Gank! Gank!" I shout as I grab Hauntzer's mouse to avoid the enemy Lee Sin comes to gank Hauntzer, who has his lane pushed fairly far in.

"Yo, not cool Dennis. I just wanted to look at the cupcake," Hauntzer whines.

"Ya snooze, ya loose," Sven responds leaning back in his chair after killing Hauntzer.

"Sucks to suck," I tell them both.

"Bruh you aint even ranked." Doublelift interrupts.

"Who said I wasn't?" I sass back.

The boys all turn around in their chairs to look at me in half confusion and half surprise. "Anyways, I'll be in the living room anyone needs me," I say giving Twitch chat a wave and running out of the gaming room with the last cupcake before anyone could question what I had just said.

I walk over to where Bjergsen is sleeping peacefully on the couch and set his cupcake down next to his glasses on the coffee table. I take a seat on the floor with my back turned away from him, resting on the couch

"Karina?" I hear the groggy Dane ask.

"Yea, I'm here," I say not looking up from my phone because I still feel guilty for the flour incident and causing him to skip his stream for the night.

"Why are you down there?"

"I came to bring you the finished cupcakes, but I didn't want to bother you while you were sleeping."

"Oh," He says.

"I'm sorry," I say, putting my phone down. There was a moment of quiet. "Soren?" I turn around to face him and he looks at me with his eyebrows furrowed, but still doesn't say anything.

"You owe me a favour then." He finally says as his face relaxes a bit.

"What would you like?"

"Come sit right here," He says pointing at the seat cushion beneath his head. I stand up and Bjergsen lifts his head up for me to sit down, before putting a pillow over my thighs and lowering his head back down. "Ah much more comfortable," He says as he shifts on the couch a little.

"Haha, is that all you wanted?" I laugh.

"Karina?"

"Yea?"

"Nikki and I broke up today," Bjergsen says with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Oh Soren, I'm sorry, that sucks. You okay?"

"We kinda drifted apart, and I realized she wasn't the one I liked anymo-" Bjergsen's sentence is cut short as he begins to cough.

"I'm so sorry." I repeat again, rubbing his back until his coughing fit calms down.

"Stop saying that. I know you are and besides it was an accident, you didn't know I would have an asthma attack, hell, I didn't even know that could cause one and I'm the one with asthma." He laughs, causing me to do the same.

"So, how come you still carry an inhaler around with you?" Bjergsen asks, looking up at me.

"Remember in Denmark, how you would get asthma attacks during gym or recess?" He nods his head to acknowledge he was following along. "I just kind of learned to keep a spare one on me because I was scared about what the other kids were going to do to you if I ran to grab it from your bag. What if when I came back, you would be lying on the floor dead with the other kids just standing there, watching, or worse, you just wouldn't be there."

"Wait, Kar. Was that the reason you always had one with you when we were kids? Bjergsen asks, lifting his head up from the pillow to get a better angle and giving me a worried look. "I always thought you had asthma too."

"Nope," I say casually as I push his head back down on the pillow and fiddle with his soft blonde hair. "It's become something that I just do out of habit. I actually forgot it once at home while I was on the bus on my way to school. I debated for the whole trip there and I ended up skipping my first 2 classes so I could bus back home to grab it."

"Wow, who knew you thought about me that much," Bjergsen says and the hint of surprise in his voice.

"Yea, I always think about you," I say absentmindedly.

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"Uh, n- no," I stutter as I try to think of something to say. "You should sleep. You don't seem to get a lot of that lately." I continue to stroke his hair as a distraction from what he thought I said. I can see the sleep beginning to take over Bjergsen as his eyes slowly close.

"Good night Soren. You don't even know how much you mean to me." I say quietly, as I join him in the world of sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello hello!
> 
> I'm back, but still on the edge of death. Trying to write 3 midterms in 1 week is tiring, but trying to write them with your dominant hand broken is actually death. One of the teaching assistants actually had to write the test for me and I just had to tell them what to write LOL.
> 
> Fun Fact: I had super bad asthma as a kid, so my parents would make me stay inside and I would spend my time writing weird stories.
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam!


	8. One Date

It's the morning after the whole flour fiasco and I am awoken by the incessant buzzing of my phone. I quickly stretch my stiff back, rub the night out of my eyes, and attempt to get up.

I remember Bjergsen's head is on my lap and sit right back down before his head rolls off the pillow.

Luckily, he's still fast asleep and I brush a few stray hairs away from his face before reaching for my phone on the coffee table.

Jensen: Dude, have you checked Twitter??

Curious, I open my Twitter, only to see that I have over 25,000 notifications. I scroll to figure out what's going on and see Doublelift's original tweet at 1:26am

Yiliang Peng @TSM Doublelift

"Wow, look at these two @SorenBjerg @KarinaBean It went from this to that in a span of less than 5 hours ❤"

(Insert 2 pictures)

I scroll down a little more to see the 2 photos attached.

First is of Bjerg and I during the flour incident. Bjerg's face and glasses are covered by flour and I am leaning over the counter laughing, looking slightly hysterical.

The second is of us from last night. My left hand is right playing with Bjergsen's hair, while his head is on my lap. My right arm is draped across his chest and my hand is holding his.

There are thousands of retweets and I went from 4500 Twitter followers to over 30000 followers in the span of less than a night.

"Karina?" I hear a groggily familiar voice call. I put my phone away before I am able to see the reactions and look down at a dishevelled, half awake Bjergsen.

"Morning, sleepyhead." I say, ruffling his hair to make it even more messy.

"Whatcha looking at?"

"Look at what your glorious ADC posted," I say, showing him the Tweet.

"Ayyyy lmao. $10 says we're going to be turned into a meme."

"Soren, that's all you ever wanted isn't it?"

"Yep, the more memes the better," he confirms before stretching and sitting up.

Since it's a week until Summer finals, Bjerg and the rest of the boys are getting ready for scrims at 12:30 while I'm busy setting up a lunch "date" with Meteos.

I wasn't sure whether to call it a date or not, since I don't really know what being on a date is like.

I throw my phone in my bag, wash up, and change into a casual T-shirt dress, and head downstairs.

"Bye guys, I'll see you in a while," I say popping my head into their scrim room.

"Where ya going?" Bjergsen asks, turning around in his chair to face me.

"Are you going to put on some pants with that?" Doublelift asks, trying to change the subject and points at my bare legs.

"Hm? Bruh it's a dress." I say as I do a small spin so the bottom of the dress flares out a bit.

"Wow so much skin, too scandalous," Bjerg says as he stands up and examines my outfit. "Go upstairs and change."

"Dude, what are you, her mom?" Svenskeren laughs.

"No, I, uh..."

"No thanks... MOM." I say to the fumbling mid laner. "Bye!"

"Make sure you use protection!" Doublelift shouts at me put my sneakers on and run out the door.

It was a warm summer day and the sun was shining as I walk down Santa Monica Pier to meet up with Meteos. I see a familiar tall curly haired blonde boy leaning on the railing, staring at the ebb and flow of the ocean

"Hello hello!" I say cheerfully tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey, you look amazing. Here, these are for you." Meteos says as he goes in for a hug.

Instinctively I take a small step backwards and hold my hand out. Meteos looks at me with one eyebrow raised, but then shakes my hand and hands me a bouquet of flowers.

"Aw these are so pretty," I say looking at the arrangement of pink and orange roses with bluebells and yellow gerbera daisies. "You didn't have to."

"Nonsense, I wanted to and besides, it matches your dress. It's like we already have telepathy going on." Meteos laughs. "Should we get going then?"

"I'm starving," I say as we head to the restaurant for lunch.

"Hmmm, what are you thinking of getting?" I ask, tapping my fingers on the table as I try to decide what to eat.

"I hear the nachos and burgers are good here, so I think I'm going to go with a chili cheese hotdog." Meteos says.

"Wait, why the chili cheese hotdog? You just said the other two were good."

"What can I say? I guess I go for the unconventional pick," Meteos says, shrugging his shoulders.

"Haha, well, nachos are my guilty pleasure. So I'm going to get those."

"Haha we can split some nachos then." Meteos declares, making me laugh. "What about you?"

"I was thinking about the chicken strips and fries," I say nodding my head at the good choice.

"Haha, what are you, a child?" He teases.

"Yes, and that would make you a pedophile." I shoot back. Meteos' face begins to turn bright read, causing the both of us to laugh.

Our food finally comes and we make small talk as we eat. Meteos decides to pick up the check, though I tried to fight him for me to pay at least half.

"No no no Karina. I'm paying, because I asked you out on the date." He says, taking my money off the table and running away to a waitress with the bill. I laugh to myself before grabbing both our bags and heading out the door.

"So what made you move all the way here to LA from Denmark?" Meteos asks, genuinely interested as I hand him his bag and we head towards the beach.

"I needed to get away," I say, staring out at the deep blue ocean and kicking the sand beneath my feet. "I grew up in Denmark and had a lot of fun memories there, but I also have a lot of bad memories, so I decided to move to try to get away. I decided to finish up my degree then move to LA for an official fresh start."

"But then again, it really wasn't a fresh start," I said to myself.

"Mhmm," Meteos says, processing and nodding his head. "Does Bjerg have anything to do about not a complete fresh start?"

"Hmm, what?" I ask, chewing lightly on my lip. "Wait did I say that out loud?"

"Haha yea, you kinda did," Meteos laughs. "Is that why you aren't a fan of close contact?" A wave of silence overcomes me as my mind begins to race.

Do I tell Meteos? Or do I keep my mouth shut?

"Sorry, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to hear that. I don't want to make you talk about something you aren't ready to talk about, so you can ignore my last question," Meteos says as he awkwardly rubs the back of his neck.

"He was mostly part of the good memories in Denmark, but since we grew up together, he still reminds me of what I was trying to get away from. If that makes any sense," I say, deciding its time to start trusting in people again.

"Oh I see. Yea, that's understandable. It really sucks when someone close to you also is attached to bad memories," Meteos says, gently putting his arm around my shoulder, like he's testing the waters. Once again, my shoulders tense up, then relax under the warmth.

He's warm. Why are guys so unnaturally warm?

I met Meteos just a couple weeks ago and normally I would be uncomfortable being this close to someone, but the smell of his freshly laundered shirt mixed with the saltiness of the sea fills my senses and makes me feel oddly ease.

"Thanks Will." I tell Meteos, still nestled under his arm.

"For what?" He asks, looking down at me.

"For not prying. Most people would have."

"Oh, haha no worries, I'm unconventional remember? But I'm here if you ever need to talk." Meteos gives my shoulders a light squeeze before letting go. "We should head back now, I have scrims soon."

Meteos decides to walk me all the way home. As we stand at the front door, he places a gentle kiss on my forehead before waving goodbye.

"Oh Karina?" Meteos says, turning to face me from the sidewalk. "I had a lot of fun today and thanks for calling me by my first name today." With that, he smiles once more before turning back to head home as enter the house.

"Well, well, well, I guess someone's date went well," Hauntzer says as soon as the door closes, startling me. "How was that kiss?

"Wha? Umm..." I say, uncomfortable with their attention focused on me.

"Haha you're blushing!" Svenskeren says as I can feel by cheeks begin to burn more intensely now.

"Awe, was good ol Will a good kisser?" DoubleLift teases.

"N-no I'm not! And I uh, guess so? I couldn't really judge, it happened so quick." My face continues to burn as the boys keep rapid fire questioning and teasing me.

Embarrassed, they were watching Will and I, I quickly run upstairs and into my room. I throw my body on my bed and feel a buzz from my pocket.

Will: "I had a great time today, hope we can hang out again 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hi hi again!
> 
> I got inspired while I was at the doctor's office today, so I decided to do a double update for the long weekend!
> 
> (BTW: I'm Canadian so its Thanksgiving here, if you didnt know LOL)
> 
> Hope you guys thought this was at least a little cute XD
> 
> Bye for now and keep the MemeDreamTeam alive!


	9. A Guilty Detour to Canada

KappaPrideGirl: "Wow so cute!'

MickyYasssss: "OMG they make such a cute couple

TheRealMemer: "Bruh, Bjerg's new girl is hotter than the old one."

I scroll through the comments on Twitter of a photo a cosplayer just posted of Soren with his arm around her and leaning in for a kiss on her cheek. She's pretty popular among the League cosplay community, since the original photo has only been out for 20 minutes, but it already has 5000 retweets.

I mentally throw myself out the window and just wait to hear my body splat on the concrete.

"Excuse me miss, we are about to take off. Please put your phone away for now." A flight attendant informs me as I exit out of Twitter and turn my phone off in preparation for the flight.

***

I was relieved when the plane finally touched down because I was starting to get fidgety since wasn't able to sleep on the flight. I grab my suitcase from the overhead bin and make my way outside to find a taxi.

I was eventually able to flag one down and it was about a 30-minute drive to the hotel.

Karina: Hey, which room are in at the hotel?

DoubleLift: Uh floor 8 rooms 826 through 830.

DoubleLift: Why?

Karina: Just wondering. Ya know, if the hotel burns up I want to know if you guys are safe or not XD

DoubleLift: You and your disaster plans. Bruh, that's morbid

Karina: HEY one day they are going to come in handy, just you watch.

Doublelift: LOL ok I trust you. Gtg Andy wants a meeting.

Karina: Have fun and you guys better win!

I put my phone away and smile to myself. I was excited to see the boys play in the finals and I was super excited to be in Toronto because I have never been to Canada before, but then again, I hear Vancouver is better.

The taxi driver takes me through downtown Toronto and gives me tips and recommendations of where to go and what to see in the city. After the half hour drive from the airport, I finally arrive at the Imperial Hotel, where TSM, C9, IMT, and CLG were all staying.

I grab my room key before heading up to the 8th floor to surprise the boys. Room 826 to 830.

I wonder which room they are in right now. I decide to just knock on room 827 and see who opens the door. I also cover the peep hole so they can't see me.

"Who is it?" A voice calls from the other side of the door.

"House keeping!" I say back in a cheery high pitch voice.

"Coming." I can hear the door unlock and it slowly opens up to reveal a slightly dishevelled looking Svenskeren.

"Karina?"

"DENNIS!" I shout giving him a big hug. He hugs me back and lifts me off the ground a couple of inches. "Whoa man, you're getting gains," I joke, poking at his biceps.

"Yea man, gotta get jacked to carry everyone's sorry ass," He jokes back, as he does various poses, flexing. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be graduating?"

"Haha, I'll explain that later with the rest of the team. Wait how come you have your own room, I thought it was 2 people per room?"

"Oh I sleep alone because I snore and it annoys the others. Reggie and Leena are in 826, Double and Bio are 828, Soren and Kevin are 829, and Max and Parth is 830 which is also our scrim room."

We head over to the other rooms to collect the rest of the members and meet in their scrim room.

"Spill, why are you here?" Hauntzer asks, getting straight the point.

"Yea, shouldn't you be graduating or something?" DoubleLift adds.

"Wow, you guys sure sound like you miss me," I say in a fake offended tone. "I did graduate, but I just didn't go to the ceremony."

"Why not?" Biofrost asks.

"I realized I was only excited to go because for once, someone would be there just to see me. You guys are the ones I wanted there, but since you can't go, I decided to skip it to cheer you on tomorrow."

"Awe, that's so cute." Reginald says, patting me on the head like a puppy

"Besides, I mainly came for Kevin because he's been texting me non-stop since y'all left," I say as I sit next to Hauntzer, grabbing and tugging on his cheeks. I see Bjergsen in my peripheral and notice he has a displeased and almost guilty look on his face.

I make a mental note to ask someone about it later.

"Love you too, you twit," Kevin teases, swiping my hands away from his face.

"Anyways, I'm starving, do you guys want to go get some food with C9." I say.

There is a round nodding in agreement so we head down to the lobby to meet up with C9.

We end up going to a place called KINKA, which serves Japanese food. We are able to get a room to our self. I sit down next to Jensen and I was expecting Bjergsen to sit on my other side, but I see him and Hauntzer having a quick conversation and Hauntzer quickly heads in my direction, while Bjerg goes to the opposite end of the table.

"Hey, is everything okay with Soren?" I ask, remembering Bjergsen's expression when I first arrived.

"Yea, everything's fine, don't worry about it," he replies, avoiding eye contact me. Hauntzer doesn't realize it, but he's such a bad liar.

Bjergsen's POV

Guilty.

I just feel fucking guilty when I see her now.

I haven't asked her, but I'm sure she's seen the photo on Twitter and she's probably upset about it, though she wont actually say anything because she's not the type to call someone out.

Scratch that, she's definitely upset.

She's definitely mad I didn't greet her when she first showed up at the hotel, but at that moment I just started to feel super bad for what went on the night before. I can't even look at her straight right now.

***

We finally arrived at the restaurant and there are 2 empty seats. One next to Karina and the other next to Bunny Fu Fuu and Meteos. I see Hauntzer heading for the seat next to his former teammate and manage to convince him to sit next to Karina, so I won't have to.

Through the night I sneak glances at Karina, who is happily chatting and laughing away with Hauntzer and some of the C9 crew.

"You should have seen his reaction," Karina says, "Nic here literally jumped out of his skin."

"I did not." Jensen protests.

"Wait, what did you do?" Hauntzer asked.

"Well I hid in their closet and waited for Nicolaj to come. When he finally went in his room I started clattering things, making him think someone was there."

"Come on, tell me you guys wouldn't be a little freaked out if you thought someone was in your hotel room."

"Shhh let her finish." Doublelift hushes and Jensen pouts.

"Anyways, Nic came to check and I hid behind the ironing board so he wouldn't see me. He left and I started rattling things again."

"That's when the Monkey called me!" Impact says, "He told me to come to the room because he thought it was haunted."

"Did you really?" Asks Biofrost.

"Yea he did, man. I heard it all," Jack says from across the table.

"Anyways, he comes back to the closet and I jump out at him and he screams like a girl and falls down... and then continues to scream until he realized it was me."

"Yo man you got pranked so hard." Biofrost laughs.

"Well, all this means is I get to get this girl back," Jensen says taking Karina under his arm and giving her a nudge. I mentally laugh as I imagine that scenario actually happening.

The other side of the table suddenly bursts into laughter and I just stare at them not knowing what just went on.

What am I going to do? I stab my last piece of sushi in frustration, before popping it into my mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ummmm I actually have nothing to say about this right now... 
> 
> Haha. Bye for now!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	10. Departure

"TSM TSM TSM"

"Cloud 9, Cloud 9, Cloud 9."

The Toronto crowd is cheering loudly for both teams, neither being the clear winner of the fan's support. I sit backstage with TSM as they are about to face off with Cloud 9. I take a peek through the curtains and into the arena and can feel the electric energy of the Canadian crowd, but I can also feel the anxious energy that is buzzing behind me.

I feel a tug on my TSM jacket that was gifted to me by Reginald and turn to see Bjergsen standing there, looking a little green.

"Karina, can we talk?" He asks nervously.

"Sure, but you're about to go on stage and Andy still has to do his version of a 'pep talk.'"

Bjergsen simply nods his head and motions for me to follow him.

"Are you okay? You look like you're really nervous and about to vomit everywhere." I say, trying to lighten the mood.

"Look, you and me..." He begins slowly. "I know we haven't been talking much lately and I feel bad because its my fault you're mad, and-"

"Soren stop," I tell him, trying to give my best smile. "You need to be focused on the game and if what's happening right now is on your mind, you need to turn it off and focus."

I carefully take his two, much larger hands in mine. "We are friends and I promise we can talk about whatever is bothering you after you win today."

"Okay, thanks, but we have to talk later." Bjergsen says as he removes his hand from mine and gives me a hug before heading back to his team for the last-minute confidence boosting speech.

I didn't want to say it out loud, but Bjergsen is right.

I've started to have some of the feelings for Bjergsen resurface, but since the cupcake night, I've made it my mission to shut that down.

***

"And TSM gets the ACE!" The shoutcaster yells.

Everyone in the backroom cheer and jump up at the boys winning the last team fight.

"Fuck yea!" Reginald screams, as he hops around like a little kid.

"Come on boys, end it," I urge, though I know they can't hear me.

"Oh no, TSM is heading towards the base with a beefy wave of baron minions. I think this the end for C9!" Phreak shouts.

"Death timers are currently 40 seconds and Jensen and Impact will be the first one up to try to defend their nexus. They try to protect their inhibitor tower, but it is quickly being shredded by Doublelift and mid inhibitor is just about gone."

"What a misplay by Jensen, who went in when to contest baron way too early and just got destroyed in the process. This might actually cost C9 the game."

"All of C9 is up now and let's see if they can fend off this monstrous TSM squad. TSM is on the nexus turrets and, ooh Bjergsen gets hooked by Smoothie and the rest of C9 nuke the mid laner."

"Luckly for TSM, Biofrost gives Bjergsen a Lulu e and ult so he stays alive long enough that Doublelift is able to pump out the damage to get him a double kill on Meteos and Smoothie."

"I don't know Phreak, maybe that was a misplay by C9 to focus so heavy on Bjergsen, or maybe it was a calculated TSM decision, I just don't know."

"Doublelift and Biofrost die to the burst of Jensen's Syndra and it's looking worse for TSM right now.

"No, wait! Here comes Hauntzer with a vicious Camille ult on the backline, as he absolutely shreds Sneaky and Jensen for revenge. Impact is the only one left and he has to run back to fountain to avoid dying. Svenskeren has taken down the last Nexus turret and Impact goes in for 1 last attempt, but he just doesn't last long and just dies. The Nexus is quickly going down and nobody is able to stop them. GG Cloud 9."

"YEAAAA!" We all scream in unison at watching the Nexus explode.

"THAT'S IT EVERYONE! TSM IS YOUR SUMMER 2016 CHAMPIONS!" Phreak shouts as we all make our way out of the waiting area and towards the stage.

Confetti showers the boys as they head up to hoist their new trophy in the air, grins beaming from their faces and joy overtaking them as they are al crowned back to back champions.

***

The summer split has come and gone, and the boys went off to Korea for boot camp to prep for Worlds.

From what I could see, they all put in a tremendous amount of work to get ready for the international stage.

Even though they were drawn in 'the group of death,' and worked hard to make it out, they were all devastated when they, yet again, weren't able to make it out of groups.

I was sad for them, but at the same time, I was happy for C9 making it out of group stages, though they would eventually fall as well.

Almost immediately after SKT was crowned world champions for yet another year, Doublelift had announced that he would be leaving TSM and retiring, which shocked the League community.

***

"So, Peter, how does it feel to be old enough to retire," I joke as plop down on his bed and watch him pack his things.

"Oh, shut up, I'm not that old." He says, throwing one of his folded shirts at me.

"So why did you want to stop playing?"

"Its not that I want to stop, it sorta just happened," Doublelift says as he joins me on his bed. "After Worlds, I just, kind of lost motivation. I've been in this chase for the cup for like 4 years. First, I was with CLG and we didn't get close, then it was TSM and the "All-Star" line up which ended disastrously, and now with these guys." Doublelift lets out a loud sigh, and sits down on the bed next to me.

"I thought we were going to do well this year. It's like being in an abusive relationship, we go for the championship every year, and every year we get beaten down. We say we are going to do better for the next year, but each time we come back, its just as bad as the last. It's like I'm on a loop for the last 4 years, and I'm just ready for a break."

"Ah," I say, trying to process his reasoning. "At least you get to see Bonnie more."

"Yea, I'm looking forward to spending more time with her. Oh, and we got a house together too, which is pretty nice," Doublelift says, as he shoves some more clothes into his already overflowing suitcase.

"Awe, Lift-Lift and Bon-Bon are my couple goals. I wish I had someone as cute as the two of you," I coo at the thought of me having a person.

My person. A person I could rely on, a person who I could confide in, a person who was just, mine.

"Young Padawan, find someone you will, soon enough," Doublelift says in his best Yoda impression, which was pretty sub par.

"Ugh, I'm going to miss your terrible impressions," I say, giving the soon to be departing ADC. "And that mushroon bowl cut."

"Me too, mom," he jokes.

Doublelift finally finishes packing his stuff and we all meet in the living room to say goodbye and wish him good luck in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp that's the end of this chapter! I got another midterm Friday, so I'm just going to do a double update to avoid studying for the night lol
> 
> But on a side note: I saw a clip of DL today and I died...
> 
> Check out my Tumbr ( @LeadingLadiesOfLeague) for the full clip cuz his answer is great  
> See you later!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	11. Celebration For The Queen and The Losers

Its been over a week now and the boys are still in their post-Worlds slump. To help them relax and clear their minds, Reggie and I have been orchestrating a party for all the NA teams before everyone heads home for the holidays.

"Karina, my girl!" Jensen greets me as he and the rest of the C9 team shows up.

"We got you a little graduation gift so you can cheer us on during the spring split." Meteos says handing me a stack of wrapped gifts. He also goes in for a hug, but hesitates. Instead of making the festive atmosphere awkward, I initiate the hug the best I could, considering my hands were still full.

"Haha, maybe I want P1 or Echo Fox to win the next split, you know, get a banner from a new team up there," I joke with them and they all fake being hurt by my comment.

After Cloud 9 arrive, CLG, FOX, Liquid, and the shout caster crew all come barreling through the front door, also with gifts for my belated graduation.

"Guys, you all really didn't have to," I tell them as they start stacking gifts in my arms.

"We know we didn't," Froggen says.

"We just like seeing you struggle to carry those upstairs," Huhi says as he puts another gift on top of the stack so I can no longer see where I'm going.

"Huhi oppa, why do you have to be like this," I whine as he passes by and ruffling my hair, which causes me to flinch to the left, nearly dropping the growing pile.

I take the gifts up to my room and head back downstairs where the party is already startibg to pop off.

I spot Reginald talking to Dyrus and Hai.

"Andy, you never told me the party was for post Worlds AND my graduation!" I shout over the pounding music and give him a side hug.

"You and the rest of us deserve a night off, girl." Reginald laughs. "Relax and have fun tonight."

"But then why is Hai here? It's not like he has it cushy on the C9 challenger team, or anything," I mock.

"Hey! I will let you know Challenger isn't all sunshine and roses, besides we are in the next NA LCS split," Hai defends.

"Really? I still have a lot of respect for you as a player, but I will have even more if you can smash Soren in lane."

"Deal," Hai agrees and we both shake on it.

"KARINA! Over here!" I hear my name being called by WildTurtle and Akaadian

"Matt, Jason! What's up? How is it being on Immortals, Jason?"

"Not bad. Oh here, have a drink, I made it specially for you," WildTurtle says, stretching his arm out with a red Solo cup in hand while he gives me a suggestive look.

"NOPE!" Hauntzer comes in and swipes the cup out of Turtle's hands before I can take it for myself.

"Bruh."

"Bruh yourself Karina. You ain't old enough to drink yet."

"Oh shit, I didn't know you were such a fetus Karina," Akaadian laughs as he takes a sip from his drink.

"Don't worry. I don't drink either," Huhi says

"If I was back in Canada or Europe I could drink." I pout.

"But you ain't, you're in my country, America the great." Hauntzer says as he looks upwards and makes a rainbow arch with his hand. (like Spongebob)

"Yes, the land of the great, where I can buy a gun before I can get drunk," I say sarcastically, mimicking the same arching hand motion.

"Ooo, do I hear the infamous Karina savagery?" Sneaky says as he and Meteos come towards us.

"Bruh, fight me," I tell Sneaky.

"1v1 me," he challenges as we posture up to each other, but it doesn't last long because we ended up breaking out into laughter.

I travel around the house a little more and end up chatting with Santorin and Svenskeren, who is just a little tipsy from all bootleg European alcohol he's had.

"Dude, Dennis you sure you're okay?" Santorin asks.

"Holy, why is this 40%?" I ask Santorin astonished at the alcohol content on the bottle.

"Yea, one if the Europeans must have brought that because its way stronger than anything sold here."

"You guys are hardcore," I laugh while I watch Svenskeren grab Santorin and start dancing with him.

"Well, we're Europeans, what do you expect?" Santorin asks while being spun by Svenskeren.

"You're Good Guy Santorin who doesn't eat junk food or drink, and always puts his seatbelt on."

"What can I say, the ladies love a sensible guy."

"Haha, yea, I would totally go out with HotGuy6Pack," I laugh with Santorin as he lets go of Svenskeren and holds his hand out, signaling he wants to dance with me.

"Ahah, no thanks. I've never danced before," I laugh, playfully swatting Santorin's hand away.

"Come on, try it. It's not that hard," Santorin urges as he smiles at me earnestly.

"Fine," I say, taking his hand as whisks me towards him and places his hand on my back.

"Um, I don't think this music is suited towards slow dancing," I inform Santorin as the bass drops and the house cheers.

"Don't worry, just follow my step," Santorin says as he guides me through a couple of steps. I look down at our feet and try to match his motion.

After a couple of Edm songs, my body starts moving more smoothly with Santorin's.

"I think I'm starting to get the hang of this," I say, looking up from the ground. As if right on queue, I lose track of the count and stumble on top of Santorin's feet, causing me to lose balance.

Luckily, Santorin catches me mid fall and our eyes meet for a split second before he pulls me vsck up.   
"Um, thanks," I say clearly embarassed at my misplaced confidence.

"Haha no worries. We all start somewhere." We both laugh as my eyes trail from Santorin to Bjergsen who has his arm around a girl and is furiously making out with her.

"What the actual fuck?" I say to myself as my mood quickly sours. Santorin looks behind him before letting go of my hand.

I grab the nearest drink and downing it before Hauntzer or my brain can stop me.

I don't recognize the girl and Reginald said he didn't invite any Riot staff, other than the shoutcasters.

The sight of those two together is enough to make me want to hurl.

"Yo, graduate girl," Jensen says, as he and Hai come up to Santorin and I.

"Dude she looks pissed," Hai half-ass whispers to Jensen.

"Hmm? No I don't." I say, trying to hide my need to throw myself off a highway after kicking the crap out of a certain someone.

"Yea, you kinda look like you want to beat someone up." Santorin confirms, like he's reading my mind. Hai moves to my side to see where I was staring at.

"Is that Bjerg with an LCS bunny?" Hai asks, as my eyes look away and move to the floor.

"Ugh, I don't want to talk about it," I groan as I walk away from the guys and upstairs. Once in the safety of my own room, I lay down on my bed.

There is a quick couple of knocks when my door opens and Bjergsen appears in front of me...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliff hanger?!?!?!1111111
> 
> Hello again!
> 
> I've been itching to write a party celebration scene for weeks now and finally I get to write it!
> 
> Procrastination has its rewards! Anyways I hoped you liked it!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	12. The Sobering Reality

***Note: There is some mention of blood and stuff, though its nothing super graphic or anything like that, so if you're squeamish...Well, I'm sorry***

Bjergsen's POV

The rest of the guys are currently out having dinner, but I decided to stay home instead. Karina said she had work to do, so she wasn't going either, but I was thinking this was the perfect time for us to finally have the talk we've been meaning to have.

I sit at my computer, thinking of how to start a conversation with her about the awkwardness between us lately, when I hear a loud crash come from upstairs. "Karina! You okay?" I shout.

No answer.

I go into panic mode and race upstairs. I get to Karina's door and try to open it, but its locked. I finally get the door open after driving my shoulder into it a couple times, and see Karina with her arms and legs bloodied and shattered glass all over the floor and desk.

"Karina, wha-"

"Don't step there," She cuts me off, tilting her head in the direction of a shard of glass I was about to step on. I move my foot back to its original position and look at her unsure of how to get her out of all the glass. "It just slipped," she says slowly, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Karina, just tell me what do you need me to do."

"Um, I can't move, so you need clear the shards of glass." She instructs with a wavering voice.

I run back downstairs and grab thick rubber gloves to pick up large shards of glass up from her desk and floor and use the vacuum cleaner to get the smaller pieces.

"What about you?" I ask.

"You need to take the glass out of me," She says.

I hesitantly hold my hand for her to grab, worried I might make her injuries worse. She takes my hand and only manages to take half a step, before almost collapsing. I swiftly put my other arm under her for support.

"Fuck, there's glass in the bottom of my foot too," she mutters to herself. In one swift motion, I pick her up bridal style to take her to the bathroom. I can see her face instantly redden as she stubbornly turns her head to look away from me.

I set her down on the edge of the bathtub and grab the first aid kit from the cabinet and take out alcohol wipes and tweezers.

"It's probably best if you don't stare at it," I tell her as she bites her lip in anticipation for me to take the first piece out of her forearm.

"Talk to me then."

"Umm," My mind goes blank while trying to think of something to distract her. "I'm sorry we haven't had much time to talk lately."

Ugh, why would I choose to bring that up right now. So stupid.

"I know," she says quietly. I pause to look up from her arm to her face. She purses her lips together, making a thin line. With nothing else to say coming to mind, I look back down at her arm and notice that despite her skin always looking smooth like porcelain, there are small bumps covering her forearms.

Karina's POV

"I know," is all I manage to say to Bjergsen, because I really don't know what else to say.

For the last couple of weeks I've been distancing myself from Bjergsen, when really, all I want to do is talk to him, like all the time.

"Karina what's this?" Bjergsen asks as I see him looking down at my arm and his thumb tracing the length of my wrist. I try to pull my arm from his grip, but he just tightens it and his brown eyes pierce through my own equally as brown ones.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," I tell him sharply. Bjergsen opens his mouth like he's about to say something, but shuts it quickly after and goes back to focusing on the glass.

"Why won't you talk to me anymore?" He asks, pulling a shard from my shin. "You used to tell me everything."

I let out a sigh, close my eyes, and relive the night of my graduation party.

***

"Hey Soren, what's up?" I ask, trying not to sound bitter at the raunchy make out session I just witnessed. Instead of answering, Bjergsen just makes his way towards me, grabs my wrist and pulls me off my bed.

"Soren, wha-" My sentence is cut off by the quick woosh of my body being pulled closer to my childhood best friend. I look at Bjergsen, who brushes the stray hair away from my face and places his hand on the side of my neck, his thumb stroking my cheek slowly.

He looks down at me with sincerity and closes his eyes as the gap between us narrows.

My heart races, but my mind is at ease as if it just knows what it wants to do.

My body moves on its own as I wrap my arms around his neck as his free hand pulls my waist in closer. We slowly drift closer to each other and I can feel the heat emanating off of him. Our lips finally meet, his a little rougher than I expected, but a jolt of electricity is still sent down my spine and throughout the rest of my body, leaving a tingling sensation.

My lips move slightly to send a kiss back and for a moment, I am without a direction. All I want is to be right here, right now, with just him.

I am just about to withdraw from our connection, but he gently bites on my bottom lip and goes in for one last kiss before we separate.

***

"Because we aren't that close anymore," I tell him, opening my eyes and trying my hardest to be as cold as possible

"Karina," Bjergsen's eyes narrow on my own "I know I wasn't always there for you when we were growing up, and I left you in Denmark and its my fault we didn't talk much after I went pro, but I'm here now." He pauses, diverting his gaze down at my arm.

"I want to be someone important to you, someone you can have fun with and someone who will be by your side and can talk about anything." Bjergsen looks at me with sincerity, but I can tell he hasn't been sleeping well, since there are more dark circles than are normal.

"Soren, I- I- don't know," I tell him as I look down at the suddenly interesting bathroom tiles.

"You don't know what?" he asks, genuinely unsure of what I'm trying to get at.

"All those things are what my boyfriend should be to me... and that's not you." I state dryly, already starting to tear up. "You've been out of my life for the last 4 or so years and now you're suddenly back and wanting things to go back to how it used to be. It's not the same as when we were kids, we've both changed a lot since then." I take a breath, before beginning again. "There is so much baggage in the past and I came to LA to start a brand-new chapter in my life; and letting myself have the same feelings I had for you when we were kids, is just... I'm scared it's going to get me in trouble again and effect everyone else around me."

"Karina," he says, letting out a sigh. Still kneeling, he cups my face with his hands, forcing me to look at him, instead of the tile floor. "I want to start new with you. I know there has been a lot of crap in the past, but I want to be apart of this new chapter, and I want to be in trouble with you this time, if you'll let me."

Unable to formulate words, I simply nod my head as Bjergsen wipes the tears that stained my cheeks.

Without any warning, Bjergsen's face leans in closer, and my mind begins to run in different directions, unable to decide if I want him to continue or to stop. Closer we inch, and in that moment, our lips touch and melt into each other.

The moment, our moment, passes slowly, as we pull apart from each other. I lean my forehead onto his so our noses are almost touching and he keeps his hand on my neck, still stroking my cheek.

"Soren," I say breathlessly.

"Yea," He mumbles, still intoxicated from the kiss.

"What was that?"

"What did it look like?"

"I don't want to be your rebound girl. You and Nikki broke up recently and way you've been acting-"

"I know," Bjergsen said, cutting me off. "The break up with Nikki is still fresh and I know its not an excuse for the way I've been acting, but I never want you to feel like my rebound. I felt like I just had to do that while I was sober this time so I can remember it in vivid detail."

"Oh," Is all I manage to say, still flustered from the shift in emotions. "Um Soren?"

"Yea?"

"This glass is really starting to hurt, can you please take it out?"

"Oh shit, sorry," he says, going back to work and giving me a quick smile, which was pretty rare these days. "But you know you can talk to me about whatever, whenever, right?" He asks, referring to my wrists and the comment I made earlier. "Only when you're ready though."

"I promise, when I'm ready, you're going to be the one I talk to first." I say, flashing him a quick smile.

***

"We're home bitches!" Hauntzer hollers as he walks into the house, followed by the rest of the team. "Wait what the fuck happened to you two?"

"Oh this?" I ask, raising my crutch with a bandaged arm. "Yea, I dropped my framed photo of Ahri that everyone signed for me and got cut by the shattered glass."

"and as usual, I cleaned her mess up," Bjergsen jokes, giving me a little nudge.

"It was a lot of glass."

"So... you two are talking again?" Biofrost asks, earning a nudge from Svenskeren for the bluntness of his comment.

"Yea, we kissed and made up." I say looking at Bjergsen, who tries his best to give a straight face, before turning back to the rest of the team.

"See, I knew if we left those two home alone, they would be better by the time we were back." Hauntzer says proudly.

"Well either that or Soren's dead body would be lying in the middle of the floor. So, I'm glad it's the first option." Svenskeren laughs.

The team decides to watch a Netflix movie with Bjergsen and I, instead of grinding out some solo queue.

Just as the movie is starting, I get a text from Hauntzer.

Kevin: I knew you guys would "kiss and make up" Now just don't go making out throughout the house XD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! You've reached the end of the chapter 


	13. Unexpected ADC

Bjergsen's POV

The team has recently been trying out some new ADCs, because right after Worlds, DoubleLift told the team he would be taking some time of because he was going through some personal issues and lacked the motivation to keep grinding away.

Some of the guys didn't really understand, but I understood where Peter was coming from. We have both been pros for a long time and we every year we work hard, but every time we get to international competitions, we get stomped, and it sucks.

"Okay guys," Reginald begins, "We have narrowed down our choices in ADCs to 2 players. WildTurtle, as you all know, is a seasoned veteran with a lot of knowledge, but he also comes with some risks in his plays and play style. The other is Syntax, who is highly skilled mechanically and works really well around objectives, but has never been a pro player, so we would be dealing with a complete solo queue newbie. I would like to hear your opinions about the pros and cons of each so I can make a final decision."

"Vincent, since we are picking your duo partner, you should have the first say," Parth tells Biofrost as he takes out his notebook to jot down some points.

We discuss the pros and cons of each player and decide that it was best for the team to go with the very green player, Syntax, over the seasoned vet, WildTurtle. The two candidates were very close when it came to mechanics and objectives. It honestly came down to who had the better macro game.

It was also nice to see a fresh face come into the organization, since TSM was originally built on bringing in and training new talent.

Andy had sent an email to Syntax, asking him to join our team for the Spring 2016 split and detailing the conditions of the contract. Since our newest member lived in near, he said he would be coming to the house in a couple of hours to drop of the finished paperwork and meet the team for the first time in person.

"I wonder what this guy's like," Svenskeren says excitedly.

"Wait, nobody knows what he looks like? What if he's a serial killer?" Hauntzer asks.

"Bruh you've been around Karina too much." I add.

"The guy seems pretty nice in solo queue," Biofrost chimes in.

There is a knock at the front door as the clock hits 3:00pm.

"Coming!" Andy calls as he gets up off the couch and heads towards the front door. The door swings open and we all lean forward to see who person who is standing there, but Andy blocks our view.

"Guys, false alarm. It's just Karina," Reginald calls as Karina steps through the door with groceries in hand. We all groan in anticipation, but still give Karina a hand with the food.

After putting the groceries away, we head back into the living room to wait for the new ADC.

Karina's POV

"Oh, guys. I have something for you all," I say after putting the food away and walking towards the anxious team, though nobody seems too interested in what I have to say.

I sift through my bag trying and finally locate what I'm looking for.

I take hold of a thick stack of papers and throw it on the coffee table, which lands with a loud thump. The noise causes a couple of guys to look up at me, finally with their attention.

"Wait, Karina, is this...?" Bjergsen says as he grabs the stack and begins flipping through the sheets of paper, his mouth just hangs open and the words stop flowing.

"Yo, what is it?" Andy asks, as he is handed the stack. His eyebrows furrow as he flips through a couple of pages.

"Kar, this is..." Andy trails off as he closes the booklet and hands it to Svenskeren, who is desperately trying to understand what is going on and is instantly crowded by Biofrost and Hauntzer.

"Holy shit, Karina!" Hauntzer shouts, jumping up and down. "You're the guy we've been playing with the last month?"

"Yep, I'm the one and only, Syntax!" I say, giving them a cheeky smile and throwing up the peace sign.

"Holy, mother of god! How didn't I know you played League? Wait how did the rest of you not know?" Andy asks, still in shock.

"Um, Peter asked me that night at the C9 house, and then before I went out with Will. Apparently, he was the only one who care enough to listen and ask me what rank I was." I sass the boys.

"Wait, how did you not know?" Svensekeren asks Bjergsen.

"We used to play together when the game first came out. I figured she just stopped playing," he shrugs as he gets up and gives me a hug. "Whelp, welcome to the team, you little shit."

"Haha, thanks, it's a great honour to work with the mighty Bjerger-King," I say, giving him a grand sarcastic bow.

"Ayyy, I can't believe you kept this a secret from me!" Hauntzer wined, "But, welcome to the team!" he shouts, patting me on the head and messing up my hair.

With nothing else planned for the day, the team and I, er I guess I should just say we, since I'm officially TSM's new ADC, did some 5-man dynamic queue games to work on our synergy so we would be in top shape, heading towards the Spring 2016 split.

As we were waiting in queue, I decided to start changing my Instagram and Twitter name to have the official TSM name included in it. I let out a quiet sigh as I put my phone down and get ready for champion select. I hover over Caitlyn as I think back to how it was possible for me to get here in the first place.

All the hours of solo queue, and nights where sleep was sacrificed to climb my way up to challenger, all seemed worth it. '

I lock in Caitlyn and am taken to the loading screen to enter the Rift. I turn around in my chair to look at roommates and newly acquired teammates and can't help feeling like it was meant to be.

After a couple hours of League and dinner, I decide to retire to my room for the night.

"Sleeping so soon?" I hear a familiar voice coming from the bathroom.

"Eh, I'm just checking Twitter and looking through all the reactions." I say, as I turn onto my back, holding my phone right above my face.

My phone had been blowing up all day. Fans were shocked when we announced I was TSM's new ADC and I was chosen over WildTurtle, who was a very respectable and seasoned player.

Some theorized that I had "sucked" my way to the spot, or I had an unfair advantage because I was living with them and was a girl who could use other means to get on the team.

Luckily, there were just as many people who came to my defence, especially the EU fans I had when I was back in Denmark, who totally shut down the haters and left a ton of positive and supportive comments.

"How come you didn't tell me you played," Bjergsen asks, leaning against the bathroom doorframe.

"I did, you just didn't listen," I say casually, as Bjergsen raises one of his eyebrows, signaling me to give a better explanation. "It was my escape. On the rift, I could just be someone different, someone who dominated the EU servers. It felt...Powerful and fulfilling."

"Ah I see," Bjergsen says, seeming to understand exactly where I'm coming from.

"I also didn't want to tell you I was trying out for the spot, because I wanted to earn the spot fairly, so nobody could say shit on how I wasn't qualified or I had an advantage over Jason."

"Yea, makes sense," Bjergsen says, sitting on my bed next to me. "I'm glad to have you on the team, Kar. I wouldn't have ever guessed we would be professional gamers together."

"Me either. I wish I could have told the younger me that her dream would soon become a reality," I sigh, thinking about the things I could have done differently if I was able to go back in time.

"Your dream was to be a professional League of Legends player?" Bjergsen asks, sounding slightly skeptical.

"Not League specifically. I just wanted to do something with epsorts, maybe run a company or team, or something. Being a doctor or lawyer like everyone wants me to me be is just too boring."

"That's true, I just never thought you liked video games that much. How come you always just watched me play games then?" Bjergsen asks, tilting his head to the side.

"Boy, you really don't know me then. I liked to watch you play League, or any game for that matter, to learn how to play and see your mistakes."

"Oh, so you learned to become a Challenger by my example then," Bjergsen says, giving me a cheeky smile.

"Actually, I picked out all your micro and macro game play mistakes and then learned from them," I said, giving him a cheeky smile back as he turns and pinches my cheeks.

"Haha, I guess next split is going to be interesting. Anyways, good night, I'm going to bed." Bjergsen says, giving me a quick light kiss on my forehead.

"Hey! You can't kiss your new team mate like that. Its called sexual harassment!" I laugh as he quickly leaves my room for his own.

I bring my hand up to my forehead and place my fingers where he just left his touch. My heart flutters just thinking about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, hi, hi! I hoped you guys liked this chapter and thanks to everyone for the +200 reads, I really like writing this story and hope to make it into a series!
> 
> (Wait for Chapter 15, It's my favourite right now!)
> 
> See you next chapter!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	14. Double Date

I woke up at around 10:00 am today, which is pretty early, considering how late the rest of the team sleeps in, and headed straight for Bjergsen's room. I quietly knock on his door, but he's still fast asleep. I tip toe towards his bed and crouch down next to him

Bjergsen lets out a quiet groan and nearly smacks me in the face while he stretches his arms.

"Morning Soren," I laugh, looking at the state of his bed head. "You have to get up soon. You're supposed to go for a guy's day with Kevin, remember."

"Yea, I know. Just, 5 more minutes." He mumbles, shifting beneath his blanket. He just lays there for a couple of minutes, and I take the extra time together to trace his facial features, hoping he doesn't notice as he falls back asleep.

I place my finger on the top of his forehead and glide it downwards past his eyes and towards the tip of his nose. I then go past his top and bottom lip, his chin, and end tracing all the way down past his Adams apple and ending at the base of his neck.

My fingers drift around the side of his neck as my thumb follows his boney jaw line, when his hand is placed on top of mine.

"What are you doing?" He asks quietly as I look up at the now fully awake Dane.

"Nothin', I'm just, remembering. Now, get up, you're going to be late." I instruct as I fling the sheets off the bed, causing Bjergsen to shiver at the sudden change in temperature.

Today, Hauntzer and Bjergsen told the team they were off to go play basketball together, while I told the them I was going shopping with my friend Luna, who happens to be the girl Hauntzer is dating, but that was a secret kept between the 4 of us.

Since they have been keeping their relationship on the downlow, Soren and I have been allowed into their secret, but that also meant we were enlisted to help them sneak away on dates with each other. Which, in my opinion, was pretty Romeo and Juliet esque and romantic as hell.

Instead of basketball and shopping, we were going on a "double date" to the carnival at the pier.

***

"Soren! Kevin! Lets go on that!" Luna and I both shout as we drag the boys towards the line for the rollercoaster. After going on the swings, taking a trip in a boat on a makeshift lake, and riding the rollercoaster for the 4th time, we decided it was time for some food.

For once, healthy fitness guy Kevin decided to get a cheeseburger with bacon and fries, while Luna opted for chicken fingers and fries and Bjergsen and I chose to split a pizza and nachos.

After our fast food filled lunch, we headed towards the games section, where Bjergsen and Hauntzer proceeded find a game suitable for them to compete in to see who could get "their girl" the first stuffed animal.

***

"Ding ding ding! And we have a winner! Number 24 over here won the filled his bar up with water first and is our big winner! Now, my good sir, since we had 7 players, you are allowed to pick any prize from the bottom 3 rows." The game attendant announces.

"WHAT? No way, fight me again. I call scripts!" Hauntzer shouts in frustration as Bjergsen dances around, looking like one of those inflatable balloons at a car dealership. Luna and I to look at each other and laugh at the two boys.

"Hey buddy, I'm a huge fan of yours, so just between you and me, feel free to pick anything from the top row for your girlfriend," The attendant whispers as he pushes his mic to the side so nobody else can hear.

"Wow, thanks man." Bjergsen says as he looks at me and smiles like a 5-year-old. "But she's not my girlfriend, and would you mind not telling anyone you saw the 4 of us here?"

"Sure, whatever the god midlaner wants." The attendant says.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't give him too many compliments, his already inflated ego just barely fits in the house." I say, causing everyone to laugh.

"Could I get that Blue stuffed penguin there?" Bjergsen points, as the attendant happily cuts the string, releasing the plush toy and handing it to him, who then hands it to me.

"Awe, thank you. You really didn't have to," I say, giving him a quick hug "and I think Kevin wants to play one more round with us though," I laugh, looking over to Luna, who is trying to console the top laner.

***

"Ding ding ding! And we have a winner, Number 21 over here with the cute smile," The games attendant announces as Luna shoots up from her chair, cheering.

"Now miss, I see your boyfriend wanted to win one for you, but since we had 10 players this time, why don't you pick something off the top row for your man." The attendant jokes as Hauntzer rests his head on Luna's shoulder after the major beating he just undertook.

"Ooo, can I have that pink penguin so it matches my friends?" Luna asks, as the attendant cuts it down and hands it to her. She then immediately hands the penguin to Hauntzer and turns around. He looks at Bjergsen and I in confusion, but we just shrug our shoulders, not really knowing what's going on either.

"Um, Luna?" Hauntzer asks, tapping her on the shoulder with the penguin still in his hands.

"OMO! Wow, is this for me?" She says, acting surprised, as Hauntzer hands her the plushie. "Awe thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best boyfriend ever!" Luna cheers giving Hauntzer a kiss on the cheek.

"Awe, isn't that cute."

"Not as cute as you though," Bjergsen says, putting his arm around me.

"Please, you're still in break up fuck boy mode," I laugh, shrugging his arm off. "But you're not wrong about me being cute."

Since it was already 8, we decide to leave the games area and head towards the last ride of the day, the Ferris wheel. Bjergsen and I hop into an open basket, while Hauntzer and Luna take the one after.

Higher and higher we go, until we stop at the very top.

I put the penguin down beside me and bask in the amazing sunset view over the ocean. Bjergsen does the cheesy fake stretch and puts his arm around me. I shift positions so my legs are on the bench and my body leans against his, as his hand snakes to find mine and rests on my lap.

"Soren?"

"Yea?"

"Thank you."

"For what?" He asks as he rests his chin top of my head.

"For today," I say, tracing random shapes on the back of his hand. "For a lot of things, but mostly for being there as my home away from home."

"Hey," Bjergsen says, giving my hand a slight squeeze. "Well, thank you for supporting me for so long, thank you for always being there to untilt me, thank you for using my first name instead of my other one, and most importantly, thank you for waiting for me." Bjergsen says.

"I'm glad we get to work together next split," I say, thinking about how the future is going to turn out for us and the rest of the team.

"Haha, me too, just don't throw your tilt on me, and we're good," he jokes.

"Fine, just don't suck so I won't tilt," I joke back as he pinches my cheeks with this index finger and thumb.

"Deal," I say, holding out my pinkie. Bjergsen extends his pinkie and hooks it onto mine so that our promise is forever bounded.

Shades of orange, pink, and red are smeared across the sky like a mosaic and I can feel the calm rise and fall of Bjergsen's chest as we sit together in comfortable silence. Watching the yellow ball of light fall causes my vision to go a little blurry, so I decide close my eyes and listen to the sound of Soren breathing, creating the end to a perfect day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Hello! Hello!
> 
> So Luna was introduced in this chapter and obviously she is Hauntzer's girlfriend, though they are on the down low for now.
> 
> Luna is a girl from Vancouver who was just in her last year of high school when a mysterious person by the name of "Yarnello" messages her on her Instagram account, where she posts previews of her music covers that are on Youtube. Luna has lost a lot of her friends over the last year, so she finds solace in talking to her mystery boy.
> 
> Will the two connect on a deeper level? Or will their relationship sabotage their careers so they fall Just Shy of Greatness?
> 
> (This story is begins during the spring split when Hauntzer is still on Gravity, so he isn't introduced to TSM yet and Karina is a couple years away from reconnecting with Bjergsen)
> 
> (Also, it's the first time I've ever written in 3rd person, and I don't know if I like it or not yet...LOL)
> 
> I am currently (but very slowly) drafting up a Luna and Hauntzer story and I have some of the details already set, but if you guys have any ideas on how to make it better, then just message me or comment!
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	15. Home for the Holidays Pt.1

There were only a few weeks until Christmas, so Soren and I decided to pay a visit back to Denmark and spend the holidays with his parents. Since Svenskeren's flight the day after ours, we decided to meet up with Sneaky and Meteos, who were also getting on a flight to head home for the holidays.

We go through baggage check in and pass through security and only Sneaky doesn't pass the first time because he forgot to take off his belt, which had a metallic buckle.

"Dude, I thought you forgot to take your butt plug out again," Meteos says to Sneaky, which elicits on of Sneaky's famous "same" In response.

"Attention passengers, American Airline's flight 222, from LA to Denmark, will be boarding in 5 minutes," the person on the PA announces.

"Well, I guess that's our queue," Bjergsen says and we wave goodbye to Sneaky and Meteos.

We are now on the plane and getting settled in for the long 13-hour flight ahead of us. I take my window seat, while Bjergsen sits in the middle seat.

"Karina, you okay? You look a little green," Soren laughs.

"I'm jut not a good flier," I admit, as I search for my headphones.

"Kar, we're not going to die or anything. Besides, if we did, your family would get hella compensation for our wrongful deaths."

"Not helping Soren," I say, slightly annoyed.

"Okay, I'm sorry," he says as he put the arm rest between us up and subtly search for my hand. Our hands make contact and I look up at him as our fingers intertwine and he squeezes my hand. I casually throw my sweater over myself so nobody sees.

I can hear the engine starting to whirl louder as we start making our trip down the strip and increase in speed every second. I look at Bjergsen, who squeezes my hand a little tighter.

Within a couple of hours, Bjergsen, like most of the people on the plane, are fast asleep. Me, being the night owl, I am, decided to take my laptop out and work on some things I've been meaning to do.

Since our rooms both have locks and are joined by the bathroom, Bjergsen and I are able to go into each other's room during the night without anybody knowing. This was a pretty nice perk, since we could have a casual date or just spend the night talking and not worry about anyone finding out in the morning.

I feel a shift next to me and look over to see that Bjergsen is half awake. "Hey," he says lazily as he stretches in his seat. "Whatcha doin?"

"Nothing much, just some typing stuff," I say as I save my work before closing my laptop. "Water?"

"Thanks," he says, taking the cup and downing the whole glass. "Have you been up this whole time?"

"Mhm. I've never really been comfortable falling asleep on planes."

"You should get some sleep though, when we land it'll be like 4:30 in the afternoon and you're going to be so jetlagged."

"I'll just stay up until 11:00pm Denmark time and then sleep," I say casually.

"Bruh, that means you're going to be up for like 36 hours straight. That can't be healthy for your body." I just shrug my shoulders, which causes Bjergsen to sigh. "Trust me, I know what I'm talking about," he tries to convince me as he snatches my laptop and puts it in his bag.

"Soreeeeen no," I whine, reaching for my laptop.

"You're comfortable around me, right?" he asks. I nod my head, not sure where he was going with this. "Then trust me and at least take a nap."

"Dam you got me there," I laugh as he sits up a little more and I lean my head on his shoulder. His hands fish around the seat and eventually find mine. I grip his hand tightly and my eyes fixate on the seat in front of me.

Bjerg curiously looks down at me and brings his hand to the bottom of my chin, prompting me to look at him. My chocolate brown eyes focus on his much darker brown eyes. He leans in closer and goes for a quick peck on my cheek.

I can already feel my face redden as I move my head away from his hand and place it back on his shoulder.

He's really not supposed to do that, since we aren't dating, but with my hand intertwined with his, and a kiss that lingers, everything just feels right. I drift off into a blissful sleep, excited for what awaits us in the future.

***

"Mom, Dad, I'm home and I brought someone special with me!" Bjergsen calls as we step through the front door of his childhood home, much of which, my childhood was spent here too. 

"Ahhh, my baby boy is home," His mom coos as she rushes into the foyer to greet her son with a hug. "Hm? A friend? Who is it? A girlfriend? Fiance?" She asks, looking around.

"Hello," I say, quickly wiping my palms on my dress, before peeking out from behind Bjergsen. I know I shouldn't be this nervous since the Bjergs were my second family, but being back here is different. I am no longer the little girl who was just Soren's playmate.

"Karina? Is that really you?" His mom exclaims, throwing her arms around me.

"Haha, I missed you too Mama Bjerg," I laugh, giving her another hug.

"My, my, you've gotten skinnier since the last time I saw you. Are you sure you're eating well?"

"Haha mom, Karina has become the official House Mom of the team and is the one who forces us to eat well." Bjergsen explains.

"House Mom? You two are living together?" His mom laughs.

"Did someone say Karina?" Bjergsen's youngest brother asks, casually walking to join us in the foyer.

"Hey! Hows it going?" I ask, as we give each other a quick hug. "Bruh, you've grown so much, I can't believe you're taller than me now, but I guess you have the same skinny bean pole genes as Soren," I say, standing closer to him and waving a hand over my head to see where on him I measure up now.

"Haha, Karina you sound like you haven't seen them in a long time, it's only been like 6 months you know." Bjergsen laughs.

"Well, actually I haven't seen your family for about a couple of years," his brother tells Soren.

"What? Really?" He exclaims.

"Yea man, after the incident Karina moved out and-"

"What incident?" Bjergsen asks, cutting his baby brother off and turning towards me.

"Is that my boy I hear?" Bjergsen's Dad's voice bellows, giving his son a hug. "Ah, who is this pretty little lady here?"

"Haha, hello Mr. Bjerg." I laugh, giving him a hug.

"Mmm, what's that amazing smell," I ask as the aroma of freshly baked goods fills my senses, but really I'm just trying to change the subject.

"Oh right! I completely forgot about the food in the oven!" Bjergsen's mom exclaims, grabbing my hand and ushering us towards the kitchen.

"You didn't tell him?" She whispers to me.

"No, it hasn't come up yet, so I was avoiding it as long as I could," I whisper back.

"Oh shoot. Sorry Karina."

"No, really it's okay Mama Bjerg. I just didn't want him to worry or anything." I say, tossing a hot, freshly baked Danish horn between my hands and taking a bite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Hello, Hello!
> 
> I know its not even Halloween yet, but I'm already in a Christmas mood and it lined up well with the story, so here's an early Christmas chapter!
> 
> See you next time!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	16. Home for the Holidays Pt.2

"Merry Christmas!" We all cheer as gifts are being handed out left and right.

"Here, Mama Bjerg, this is for you." I say, handing her a gift.

"Oh wow, I love it!" She says, holding up a hand carved Christmas ornament from the USA.

"Yea, Karina saw this guy making them at Santa Monica Pier and knew she had to get you one," Bjergsen explains as he hands a gift to his dad.

After all the gifts have been given, the boys went out for some "man-bonding", while Bjergsen's mom and I began preparing for the guests that would be coming over later for dinner.

"So Karina, have you found a nice boy in LA yet?"

"Ahaha, not really," I tell her as I peel the potatoes and finely chop some garlic.

"You know, I've always liked the idea of you and Soren together. I'm sure Irene would be happy to see you two together," she, not so subtly, suggests. "That's kind of why we wanted to have you and Soren born close together."

"I'm sure mom would like any boy I brought home who was good to me," I laugh.

"That was her number one priority, you know. It's a pitty she can't see you now, you have blossomed into such a wonderful woman."

"Awe, Mama Bjerg," I cry, which was mostly due to the onions, but she gives me a hug anyways. "I have you and your family to thank for that though. You all raised me well, despite how much of a pain I always was."

"You know, I always secretly wished Soren was a girl because there was just too many boys in this house and I just wanted another girl." Bjergsen's mom laughs. "But then you came along and now you're my daughter. Now, go get ready for dinner, I can finish the rest by myself."

"Are you sure?" I ask. Bjergsen's mom merely nods her head and shoos me out of the kitchen with a wooden spoon in hand.

***

"Ugh, I'm so full." Bjergsen complains, leaning back in his chair.

"Haha, you have a little pot belly," I laugh, poking at his extended stomach.

"The dinner was absolutely delicious," Ethyl, Bjergsen's aunt complements.

"If you think that's good, wait for dessert. Karina makes a mean chocolate cake and Tiramisu," Bjergsen's mom tells the guests.

"Haha, thank you. I'll go grab dessert now then," I say getting up from my seat.

"I'll help you!" Bjergsen offers as he follows me to the kitchen. "Hey Karina, are you still super superstitious?"

"Hm? Yep, no going under ladders, or black cats, why?" I ask pulling the dishes out of the fridge.

"Look up," he says. I look up and Bjergsen is standing in front of me, dangling a small bundle of mistletoe over our heads.

"What are you doing?" I ask, raising my eyebrows at him. "You do know it only works if you're under a door, right."

"But it is under a fridge door," Bjergsen says, with his arm still extended over our heads.

"If this is how you're trying to get me to kiss you, it won't work. I don't just kiss random people, you know."

"Look Karina, I've liked you since we were little and I've regretted never telling you how I felt before I became a pro," Bjergsen says, closing the fridge door and bringing his hand down to mine. "But now that we reconnected after all these years, and we are living in the same house, and we are on the same team, I feel like this is some sign from the universe, telling me not to screw it up this time. I'm so, so, so sorry I made you wait for me this long. I'm a huge idiot and I thought you thought of me as just a friend this whole time. Karina, I really like you and- and-"

"Soren," I sigh, giving his hands a light squeeze. "Relax. This is Worlds right?"

"Worlds? Oh right! Yes!" Bjergsen exclaims, remembering his earlier analogy.

"Karina," he says slowly, taking a small box out from his dark wash jeans pocket and revealing a gold heart shaped pendant with a small diamond in the middle. "We have been friends for a long time and I know we annoy the hell out of each other, but I would like to get to know you as more than just a friend. Will you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?"

"Of course, you dork," I say, taking a step closer as Bjergsen wraps his arm around my waist and his other hand cups my cheek. I tilt my head towards him and he gives me a crooked smile as I gaze upon his dark brown eyes. Closer we inch, and with one swift move, our lips lock. The soft motion starts out a little shaky, but soon turns into a comfortable rhythm.

The sudden sound of clapping startles me and I can feel Bjergsen lips curl to turn into a smile of embarrassment and cringe. We both turn to find all of the Bjergs standing in the kitchen doorway, watching how our scene unfolded.

"You guys," Bjergsen groans.

"What? It was about time." His parents shrug as his youngest cousin, who was only about 3, comes running up to us and is picked up by Bjergsen.

"Does this mean I have a new cousin?" She asks.

"Haha, we aren't quite at that stage yet, Addy," Bjergsen laughs.

"Awww, but I like Karina." She wines

"Even more than me?" Bjergsen exaggerates.

"Ummmm," Addison holds her finger up to her lips and taps it a few times, thinking. "Yes! I love Karina, she gives me candy and plays with me."

"Awe, come here," I say taking her from Bjerg's arms into my own and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I love you too Addy."

"Hey! What about me?" Bjergsen asks, turning towards his family.

"Eh, you're okay," I say, making the whole house erupt in laughter.

***

"Ugh I'm so tired," I groan as I flop onto Bjergsen's bed and check my phone

"Haha, me too. Who knew little cousins would be so tiring," He laughs.

I feel a dip in the bed and my phone is snatched from my hands, as a soft pair of lips meet my own.

"Mmmmm," I mumble, surprised at the boldness of the once shy mid laner. "What was that for?" I ask as our lips break.

"Mmm, just a merry Christmas kiss?" Bjergsen says smiling, cocking his neck to the side and examining my lips as he gently traces the outline with his thumb. I smile back and bite my bottom lip as I lean up towards Bjergsen and push on his shoulders, causing us to switch positions.

"Haha now I'm in control," I tease as he is now on his back, with me straddling his waist.

"Wow, I thought you were supposed to be a bottom?" Bjergsen says, raising his eyebrows and giving me a suggestive look.

"You're disgusting," I say as I give him a playful slap on the chest.

"Ow, that hurt," he wines, holding onto the spot I hit.

"Oh, sorry, let me make it up to you," I say as I hold my hair back to lean down for another kiss. "Better?"

"Yea, I guess it helps," he says coolly.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt so much if you actually had muscle," I tease Bjergsen quickly sits up and grab me on his lap by my waist, pulling me back down towards him.

"Nuh, uh. You're not getting away from me that easily," he teases. "Besides, you haven't put my Christmas gift on yet."

"Oh, right I got distracted by your family peeping in on us," I laugh as I had Bjergsen the small velvet box and I hold my hair back. Bjergsen unclasps the gold chain and fastens it around my neck.

"How does it look?" I ask, letting my hair go and centering the gold pendent.

"Just as pretty as you," Bjergsen complements, making me blush.

"Ugh your so cheesy," I groan, pushing him back and burring my face in the crook of his neck. "But I love cheesy."

"Haha, good. I'm nothing but a jar of cheese wiz," Bjergsen laughs as he strokes my hair.

"Good night Soren," I mumble as I play with the back of his blonde hair that lightly smells of green apple.

"Good night Karina," he mumbles back, holding me tightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHH I just finished this in the doctor's office and I'm screaming!
> 
> Finally they got together, it's about frickin time with all the secret kissing and flirting, and what not.
> 
> Anyways I'm now late for school and I will see you guys later
> 
> See you next time!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	17. "Are You Okay?"

"You nervous?" Andy asks.

"No, why?" I say back.

"You've been tugging at that necklace for the last half hour," Andy points out as I immediately stop tugging on the heart shaped pendant

"Oh, I guess I'm a little nervous," I admit, which was not a lie.

Truth is, I'm beyond scared to play today.

The guys and I have been practicing and working out the kinks in our new team synergy for weeks now and the coaching staff all say we are ready, but I have my doubts. Filling the humongous shoes of DoubleLift on the team is no small task for anyone, especially me, since I'm just a rookie.

"Hey, TSM. You guys are on stage in a few minutes, so start heading down to the arena please," A Riot staff informs us as we pack up all our gear and head towards the main stage.

"Alright guys, and Karina," Andy says, giving me a cheeky smile. This is the first week with a new team, so this is where we are testing how well we have been practicing and how we stack up to the rest of the teams. Go out there and do your best, but remember we are still pretty new to each other, so be patient, communicate, and most importantly, play a good, clean game."

"3, 2, 1, TSM!" We all chant, lifting our arms in the are from the circle and then heading towards the curtains that lead to the stage.

"You good?" Bjergsen asks, turning around.

"Yea I think I'll be okay," I say smiling, though internally I'm pissing my pants. I hear our team being announced by Kobe and them begin to call our names out.

"It's the Great Dane in the mid lane, Bjergsen!" Kobe calls out as Soren gives me one last smile before turning around and disappearing into the curtains.

I'm just about to go on when I feel a light tap on my shoulder.

"Excuse me, Syntax?" A Riot employee asks. "We forgot to get your last name from you when you did the photoshoot with us yesterday and we need it for the intermission screen between games to go along with your picture."

"Next, we have the rookie ADC and the new girl on the block, its Syntax!" I hear Kobe announce as I turn to the employee.

"My last name is Bjerg"

I run my hands through my hair once more and straighten out my shirt to ensure its perfect, before heading towards the stage. I break through the curtains and am instantly greeted by the blinding stage lights and cheers from the crowd. I make my way to join the other 3 members of my team on the right side of the stage.

Smile, wave, and walk, just like we practiced a couple hours ago. Smile, wave, and- ACK!

I had completely forgotten about the raised lip on the stage that the Riot employees warned me about just hours ago, causing my foot to hit it and the rest of me to tumble forward onto the floor, using my hands to brace the fall.

I stay on my hands for a second, cringing to myself and wondering how bad it really looked on camera.

"Need a hand?" I look up to see Bjergsen's out stretched hand, which I gladly take it to stand back up. "Are you okay?"

"Um, yea, I think so," I say, rotating my wrists until I feel a sharp pain about ¾ into the turn. "Uh, they might be a little sprained." I look over at Hauntzer and Svenskeren who are both looking back at me and quietly snickering at the scene I've just caused.

"You're such a klutz," Bjergsen says as he bops my forehead and we turn to see our final member, Biofrost, join the lineup.

"Once again ladies and gentlemen, TSM!" Kobe shouts as the crowd goes wild chanting our name. We all give a final wave before heading towards our computers.

"Smooth moves there," Biofrost laughs just as we sit down.

"Ugh, not you too Vincent," I groan before putting my headphones on and covering my face with my hands.

***

"And there goes C9, just taking the tier 1 tower after diving Syntax and Biofrost in the bot lane. Feels bad for the rookie duo." Jatt announces as Cloud 9 get first tower money and are currently backing.

We were currently in our 3rd game of our series against C9, since we each won one. The previous two games went well for Biofrost and I, but this game has not gone well for us at all. I gave Sneaky first blood, which turned into a double kill with the help of their jungler, Contractzs, and an early first tower.

"I don't know Jatt, don't count TSM's bot lane out just yet. I've seen these two play together in solo queue, and lets just say they get pretty nasty late game."

***

"Come on guys, we can do this. All we need is a good fight," Bjergsen tells the team through the mic.

"Wanna go in on this?" I ask Biofrost, as all of C9's team appears from the darkness of the jungle and into mid lane.

"Do you think we can?" Biofrost asks, pinging for the rest of the team to rush down mid.

"Soren?," I ask, looking for guidance from the experienced veteran.

"Karina, its going to be your first call as a newbie. It's up to you," he tells me as him and Hauntzer are defending tier 2 mid lane tower and Svenskeren is coming just after finishing infernal drake. I take a quick second to check the scores and items each team has and crunch some numbers in my head before answering.

It was late in the game, so Sneaky is up on kills, but since I've been power farming with Caitlyn, we are about even in items. Biofrost is behind Smoothie who is playing Sion, but Hauntzer a little ahead of Impact and his Mega Gnar bar is about half way. Bjergsen and Jensen are about even, but Jensen doesn't have his Corki ult and C9 is missing half their summoner spells.

If Svenskeren can get a Lee ult just as Biofrost Bard ults, hopefully it will isolate a C9 member that we can quickly shred through. Mega Gnar can come in to wall stun with Bard, allowing Bjerg and I just to pump out damage with his ult and since I just bought Runaans Hurricane.

"Okay, lets do it," I say, taking a deep breath and watching as Svenskeren goes in and ults Smoothie away from our tower and towards the river, where Biofrost and I emerge from the brush, stunning him with Bard's q and laying down some hefty auto attacks. Biofrost ults the other 4 member of C9 along with Bjergsen and Svenskeren, allowing Hauntzer to get Mega Gnar and throw everyone into our tier 1 tower as he and Biofrost protect me from incoming damage, so I can do major damage of my own.

"Double kill!"

"Triple kill!"

"QUADRA kill!"

"Shut down."

"Soren you cuck!" I shout as he steals the last kill from me by flash q-w-ing the support Sion.

"Haha, I cant give you your penta in the very first game," he laughs as we focus in taking down their tier 2 and inhibitor towers. Soon after, we are onto their nexus turrets and were immediately engaged in another team fight as C9 begins to respawn, but are able to take them down 1 by 1. The enemy nexus explodes and I watch as the blue VICTORY banner sprawls across my screen.

I feel a pair of hands plant on my shoulders and look up to see Biofrost smiling at me.

"Get up, be happy, we won!" He shouts as I rise from my chair and we give each other a hug, before turning to our other 3 teammates and going in for a group hug. We cheered then broke apart to go over to C9's side.

"Good game," I said, giving each player a hand shake as I passed.

"You did pretty well for your first time," Jensen said as he opened his arms up for a hug.

"Haha, thanks Nic," I laughed, still feeling like I was on cloud 9 from the win. After shaking hands with C9, Bjergsen and I were immediately taken away to do an interview with Zirene about our series.

We head back to our practice room before heading out to the fan meet when I see that my Twitter is being bombarded by TSM fans and the shock when 'Bjerg' appeared as my last name.

I decided to let the fans freak out for a little longer, before releasing a couple Tweets to explain my last name.

We finish our fan meet and pile into an Uber. I stare out the window absentmindedly as we head back to the house. Today has been so surreal and I've been pinching myself since I woke up this morning. I'm officially a pro League of Legends player, and I have a feeling there are a lot more games in my future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Hello Hello guys!
> 
> Uh, I don't really have anything to say about this chapter, except if you haven't already noticed, Karina is quite a clumsy person, which is me IRL.
> 
> I have fallen so many times and made a fool of myself, but luckily I had a few friends to help me up and laugh it off with.
> 
> Anyways, good night/morning to everyone and until next time!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	18. Just A Normal Day

The sun breaks through the clouds and beams into my open window, illuminating my room and waking me up from my deep slumber. I roll over and greet the still sleeping twig with a hug, causing him to shift beneath my arms.

"Morning," he mumbles, turning his torso towards me. "How'd you sleep?

"Morning," I reply, giving him a peck and resting my head on top of his chest. "I always sleep well when I'm next to you."

"Aww, look who's being cheesy now," Bjergsen teases, rolling over, which causes my head to fall from his chest and land next to his face.

"Ugh, you're always so cheesy, so can't I be the cheesy one for once?" I pout as he laughs at me and gives me another peck.

"You can be whatever you want, babe. Well, except a mid laner, because that's my job." he says, flinging the covers off and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"Oh so you want me to stay bottom in everything then?" I ask, raising my eyebrows at him as I slide off the bed.

"Well, I would be interested in seeing you as a top," Bjergsen says, following me into the bathroom and grabbing me around the waist as I try to squeeze some toothpaste onto my toothbrush.

"Hey! Don't move, I'm trying to protect my oral health here." I say, nudging him away so he can wash up too. "And for the record, I would be an amazing top, thank you very much."

"Ha, I would love to see that," he says as we both finish up our morning routine and head to the vod review/scrim room for our early morning scrim set.

Today we were scrimming against CLG, who were always one of the top teams in NA. After a couple of matches, we all said our good byes to have a team chat about how scrims went, then it was off to solo queue for everyone.

"Ulting." Biofrost tells me as he Lulu ults me and I triple in size and health as I hunt down the enemy Draven and dodge Morgana's bind to secure a double queue."

"Nicu!" I cheer, giving Biofrost a high-five and watching as Twitch chat explodes at our play.

I've always liked streaming, but hated streaming alone because all my teammates were trash.

Since joining the team, the amount of hate I've received, especially from the female fans, have increased dramatically, but then again there is just an equal growth in support for me.

"Ugh," I sigh, stretching my arms above me in the air and twisting to crack my back. "I think I'm going to turn in for the night soon," I tell Biofrost and the rest of Twitch chat as I grab my phone and text Soren who also just finished his game.

Biofrost and I queue up for a final game and we are quickly put into champion select. Once again, I see my chat explode and quickly skim through the comments.

"Hey Soren," I say giving the camera a mischievous smile and heading over towards his desk.

"Yea?" He asks, scrolling through which champion to lock in.

"Here, let me pick for you," I say as I push his chair away from his desk and lock in Morgana.

"HEY!," He shouts, scooting his chair back towards his desk.

"Battle of the binds?" I ask, heading back to my own desk and locking in Lux.

"Karina," Bjergsen groans as he looks over to my desk. "I hate playing Morgana, she's so useless. You shoulda at least picked me a legitimate champion."

"Well, you main mid, so Morg is your handicap." I say, giving him a cheeky smile.

"Fine, but I'm still going to kick your ass."

"Challenge accepted," I say as all 10 champions load on to the map and we head for our respective lanes.

***

"Alright fam, that's all for tonight! Thank you to everyone who subscribed today and I hope you all keep supporting me on my magical journey." I wave to the camera before ending my stream and playing one final ad.

"Okay, good night guys, I'm going to turn in for the night," I say to Soren and Kevin, who are the only other people awake currently.

I do my typical nightly routine and check to see there is a text from Soren.

Karina: I'm sleeping soon, you should be too.

Soren: I'll be up in a bit, I still have some work to do.

I sigh to myself as I tie my hair into a pony tail and crawl under the covers, waiting for Soren to finish up.

Time passes and there is still no sign of Bjergsen. My eyes grow tired, but I want to see him once more before I sleep. I try to combat the sleepiness by checking my phone and playing a couple of games, but eventually the sleep overtakes me and my eyes shut for the night.

Soren's POV

I look up from my computer and its almost 3:00am.

"Is it really that late?" I whisper to myself, checking the time on my phone to be sure. I notice I have a new text message from Karina, so I unlock my phone to see what she said.

Soren: I'll be up in a bit, I still have some work to do.

Karina: I'm falling asleep LOL. Don't stay up too late, work will still be here in the morning and you need your rest too. If I don't see you before I pass out, Good Night and dream of something relaxing.

I click my phone shut and close down my browsers before heading upstairs for the night. I enter through my room and knock lightly on the door frame that separates our rooms.

Things in the house have been getting a little more tense as the season is progressing. The house has progressively become messier and things frequently go missing and we have been eating way more junk food than we should be since Karina doesn't have the time to cook for us anymore

There have already been a couple of arguments between some of the players and oddly, Karina just sits there and doesn't say much during theses spats, which is quite unusual for such a vocal girl. I just can never figure out what she's is thinking about.

The gym however, seems to be everyone's happy place. Svenskeren and I are total gym noobies so its interesting learning how to use the machines and what to work out on. Kevin and Karina, on the other hand, always go ham in there.

They are both weebs and gym junkies.

Then you get Biofrost, who sometimes goes to workout, but is mostly goes to watch us while he sits there, eating.

"Karina?" I whisper, trying not to wake the rest of the house. Her light is still on and she's asleep on the far side of her bed with her phone, still on, in her hand. I let out a small chuckle before taking her phone from her and plugging it in so it's charged for tomorrow.

I wash up and change into a more comfortable t shirt and shorts before peeling the blankets away from Karina and slipping into bed next to her.

I let out a silent sigh and watch Karina as sleeps peacefully, occasionally letting out a quiet snore. I brush a few strands of her dark hair that is gently lit by the moonlight that shines through the open window, away from her face.

Karina lets out a little groan, stretching her arms out, one falling across my body and the other back to its original position, which was curled up near her face. Eventually the darkness of night gets me as I fall asleep, not waking until morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyooooo Fam!
> 
> First off, I wasn't actually planning on doing an update this weekend, but today my phone began blowing up with notifications on people voting and following me! You people know who you are, so thank you for blessing my phone today and I hope you like the story so far.
> 
> Also, thank you to everyone who has been reading my story thus far, it's been super fun to write and play with personalities and ideas and your support has made it even more enjoyable!
> 
> Thanks Again!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	19. You Mad Bro?

"Good morning sleepyhead," I say, trying to wake Bjergsen up. His eyes slowly open, looking around, before closing. "Hey, wake up. We have a scrim today to prep for MSI in a few weeks." I try to shake him awake, but he lets out a hoarse groan and turns his back towards me. I decide to let Bjerg sleep for a few more minutes as I wash up and get ready for the day.

25 minutes later, I walk back into my room to attempt to wake him one more time. "Soren, this is your last call from me. Wake up or someone else is going to storm in here and wake you up not so nicely."

"Just go away," he groans angrily.

"Fine, have it your way," I say, walking out of the room and joining everyone else downstairs.

"Soren awake yet?" Hauntzer asks as he hands me a bowl of cereal.

"Nope. Hes still sleeping away and grouchy as ever today." I say, shoving a couple spoonful of milk and cereal in my mouth in frustration.

"You've noticed it too, huh?" Svenskeren chimes in as he comes up from the makeshift gym downstairs and takes a seat across from me.

"Yep, he's usually okay in the morning, but as the day progresses he gets more triggered. Then its like everything is a step in a worse direction the next day."

"Haha maybe the guy needs a girl to relieve his stress," Svenskeren jokes, making my stomach flip.

"I- ah, um," I stall as I can feel my stomach churn and flip again. "Kevin?"

"Yea?"

"Did you give me soy milk or is this-" Before I can finish my sentence, the urge to gag overtakes me as I quickly run to the sink and vomit all over it.

"Oh shit." He says, eyes wide and eyebrows raised as he realizes his mistake.

"Morning guys, how's it going...What happened?" Andy asks as he and Biofrost walk into the kitchen and sees me releasing my insides, Hauntzer trying to comfort me by rubbing my back, and a shocked Svenskeren with bowl of cereal still in his hands.

"Kevin is an idiot and accidentally gave Karina normal milk instead of her soy milk," Svenskeren sighs as he rubs the side of his face. "Andy, can you get her lactose pills from her bathroom?"

"Yea, sure." He says, running up to my room. A couple of minutes pass and I can hear yelling from upstairs.

"What the hell Andy!" I can hear Bjergsen yell from upstairs.

"You were supposed to be up and downstairs over an hour ago!" Andy yells back. "Plus Karina is kinda dying downstairs so I need to get these to her."

"What?" Bjergsen responds as I can here two sets of footsteps rush down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Im, *cough* fine *cough*" I eek out between puking and breathing.

"What the hell happened?" Bjergsen asks, coming closer to the sink.

"I accidentally gave her normal milk instead of soy milk," Hauntzer says, still rubbing my back.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Bjerg says, raising his voice. "She's been living with us for the last 7 months and she's the only one who drinks it. How could you forget?" I feel Hauntzer's hand lift from my back and hear a whoosh before something slams against the cupboard.

"Whoa, Soren!" I hear Svenskeren yell as I turn my head to see Bjerg holding Hauntzer's shoulders against the cupboard doors.

"Soren, it was an accident," Hauntzer says, trying to defend himself, but not wanting to hurt his teammate.

"Sure, it was. You just want to spend more time with her," Bjerg says, once again slamming him against the cupboard.

"Dude, what's your problem!" Hauntzer shouts, anger dominating his words. "You wanna fight mate?" Hauntzer gives Bjergsen a hard shove, causing him to stumble back a bit, but soon after they are at each others throats again.

"Soren-" I shout before turning back to the sink and releasing my innards once more.

"Yo, Bjerg, chill out," Andy interferes as he and Biofrost hold the lanky mid laner back and Svenskeren does the same for Hauntzer.

"Let go of me," they both say, trying to free themselves from their grip.

I quickly get my bearings in order and try to put an end to this little fight of there's before it gets more out of hand.

"Soren! Kevin! You two better stop this right now, or else I will seriously kick both your asses senseless!" I demand as I step in between the two and placing a hand on the center of each of their chests to give them more distance.

"Go upstairs, take a few minutes to chill the fuck out before someone gets hurt." I say, turning to Soren who still has his eyes locked onto Kevin, a fire burning deep inside.

Soren lets out a huff as he walks out of the kitchen and back upstairs

"Dude, what's his problem?" Hauntzer says, asking nobody in particular.

"I think he's just tire-" Before I can finish my sentence, I feel my legs crumble from beneath me as a set of hands catch me just before I hit the ground.

"Karina?" Hey, are you okay?" I hear Haintzer's voice. My vision becomes blurry and I am unable to distinguish the different people in the room.

"Yea, I think I'm just tired from throwing up the last 10 minutes," I say, closing my eyes to rest for a bit.

***

My eyes flutter open, allowing the sunlight to enter, waking up my senses. Feeling the stiffness in my back, I turn to my side and my face is instantly met with a warm body. "Hmm?" I mumble, still sleepy.

"Oh, you awake finally?" I hear Hauntzer's voice laugh as his warm body shifts.

"Kevin?" I say, shooting up from my position in shock. I can feel my face burn, but as soon as I'm upright, my head starts to spin and I feel like I'm about to throw up again.

"Whoa, lie back down," he says, pushing me back down onto the pillow.

"How come I'm sleeping here?" I ask, pointing at the pillow beneath by head which is resting on top of Kevin's lap.

"Oh, I picked you up and let you sleep on the couch. You were actually sleeping the other way before, but you kept kicking me on the other side of the couch so I moved spots," He laughs once again.

"Oh," I say lying on my back and looking up at him. I want to ask how he and Soren are doing, but I feel like I was at fault for that whole fiasco.

***

Scrimming Immortals went alright. We had good team communication was just like how it normally was, except as soon as we finished scrimming, Soren and Kevin wouldn't talk to each other.

Since work was done for the day, nobody wanted to stream so we all just broke for the day and did our own thing. I decide to head upstairs to see how Kevin was doing.

"Kevin?" I say, quietly knocking on his door.

"Come in," he calls from the other side. "What's up?"

"Peace offering?" I say, leaning against the door frame and revealing a heating pack in one hand and bruising cream in the other. He looks up at me, pausing for a couple of seconds before we both crack into laughter.

"How is your back doing?" I ask taking a seat across from him on his bed.

"A little Sore-n." he jokes to which I reply with a face palm. "Come on, it was funny."

"Just take off your shirt, you doofus," I say throwing the heating pack at him as he obediently takes off his shirt and allows me to examine the blueish purple marks already starting to form on his back and shoulders, and apply some warming cream.

"What the hell?" I hear as Kevin and I both turn to see Soren standing at the doorway.

"Soren wai-" Before I'm able to finish my sentence, Bjergsen storms off, slamming the door behind him. "Ugh, I hate it when he's like this," I groan.

"So, how are you two doing?" Hauntzer asks, turning to face me.

"Uh, its going...you know," I say, not really sure how to explain it.

"Karina?" He says in a wary tone and raising his eyebrows at me. I pause for a moment, trying to decide whether to tell him the truth or not.

"Fine. Promise me you can't tell anyone about what I'm about to tell you," I say, letting out a sigh as Kevin simply nods. "Let me start from the beginning then..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO!!!! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I was swamped with school work ☹ So I decided to write a new chapter after my midterm tonight and things are going down in the TSM house.
> 
> Have you seen the new patch updates???? I hear they are so much more complicated now lol.
> 
> Also I have a few new ideas for stories revolving around other LCS players, so if you guys have any suggestions on a certain player and their ship partner, pls let me know!!!
> 
> Like always, thanks for reading!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	20. Honesty

Ever since I had a talk with Hauntzer, I've been feeling a lot lighter, like a weight was lifted and things aren't so complicated anymore. The house, on the other hand, hasn't diffused in the last couple days and the pressure is really on since MSI is today.

"Karina! How are you doing!" I turn to see Rekkles coming towards me with open arms.

"Hey, whats up Rekkles?" I say giving him a hug in return.

"Not much, I just came to see everyone play in MSI, you're playing, right?" He asks, taking a seat next to me on the lounge.

"Yep, I'm pretty nervous to go against the Koreans."

"But you're half European, so you're going to perform better than the Americans," Rekkles jokes.

"I'm also half Asian though, so maybe we won't get smashed," I joke back as we both laugh.

"Rekkles, you're gonna have to leave. We are on soon and I need these guys to focus," Andy says as Rekkles gives me one last hug before departing. Like normal, we do our pre-game talk which includes picks and bans, what we need to work on, and an overall pep talk from Andy.

We all head onto the stage, waving to the crowd before heading towards our setups.

"Hey, we got this," I say to Bjergsen who gives me a quick smile before putting on his headset. Picks and bans were pretty standard: Shen, Gragas, Ryze, Ezreal, and Karma for us, while our first opponents of the day, Flash Wolves played a little more unconventional picks; Fizz, Lee Sin, Taliyah, Ashe, and Lulu.

MSI was overall dissatisfying.

Despite wining some matchs, TSM was unable to get out of group stages because of some weird tie breaker rules, so we ended up going home earlier than expected. To the fans, we played well as a team, but we all know that our team was starting to fracture.

As teammates, we knew Bjergsen wasn't his normal leader self in the matches and after first blooded a couple of times, he was clearly tilted. After the first game, Hauntzer and I decided to try to fill in the leadership gaps and start picking up where we were lacking. It was shaky at the start, but we were able to come back in the series and pick up a few wins.

We flew back from MSI the next morning and just before we entered the house, Andy pulls me aside for a quick chat.

"Hey, Karina I was just wondering if there was anything going on with Bjerg lately, like in his personal life." Andy asks.

"Um," I say, taken aback because usually never gets involved with our personal lives unless its affecting our play. "I think Soren is just a little stressed out. He's been up practicing late, so he doesn't get much time to relax and not think about the game, and I think it's hard for him to be the only shot caller." I tell him, which is not a total lie, but also not the complete truth.

"Oh, really?" Andy says, buying my story, "Parth and I were actually thinking of putting you or Kevin in a larger shot caller roll.

"I think Kevin would be a great shot caller, plus he's mentioned it a couple of times before," I tell Andy, who seems interested in the idea. "As for me, I'm not really comfortable shot calling because I'm still a rookie who has a lot to learn about the game."

"That's fair. I'll go talk to Kevin about it, but make sure you talk to Bjerg," Andy says as we head inside and unpack our bags.

***

Once unpacked, everyone split off to do their own thing and I went upstairs to relax. A few minutes pass and I hear Soren enter his room. Giving him some time to settle in, I let out a huff and go confront him about what's been going on. Just as I reach his door to knock, it swings open and Soren runs straight into me.

"Whoa," we both say. "I was just- No you go first-" we say in sync, causing us both to laugh and Soren to do the zipping his lips motion.

"Aha, I was just coming to talk to you."

"Oh, me too. I mean, coming to talk to you."

"Um, so your room or mine?" I ask awkwardly.

"Yours," He decides as we head back into my room and sit on opposite ends of the bed. "Sooo," Bjergsen begins, drawing out the o sound.

"Sooo," I repeat, trying to rack my brain on how to start the conversation. "Are you okay?"

"I mean I didn't play the best at MSI, which really sucks because I wanted to show how good-"

"I don't mean the match," I cut him off. "I mean, like, how are you sleeping, is your health okay, are we okay?" There's a long awkward pause and I just stare at the white comforter.

"I don't sleep much, my wrists and neck are killing me, and I don't know," he says all at once.

"You don't know?" I question, getting a sinking feeling deep inside.

"I don't know. Are we okay? You never talk to me unless its to do with League, you're always flirting with Kevin, and you are still avoiding the subject of what the big incident in back in Denmark is all about." He says, clearly frustrated with the status of our relationship.

"Soren, I can't do this with you if it's always going to come back to my past! I'm just not ready to talk about it," I say, holding back the impending tears.

"Oh, so you can't talk to me, but you can talk to Kevin? I'm the person you should be talking to, I'm the person that cares for you most, and I'm the person who's always been there for you!" Soren shouts, standing up. "Karina, I can't keep doing this if you are going to continue to shut me out and be such a cold person.

"Cold?" I repeat, letting the word sink in before speaking again, this time in a lower voice, "Have you ever thought of why I can't tell you? Why I'm such an Ice Queen Bitch to anyone to gets too close?"

"No, I haven't! Because I know you won't tell me!"

"Fine! You really want to know?" I say, the anger already beginning to well up inside of me. "Tell me how am I supposed to tell the person that I'm in love with that these scars, on my wrist, are from the kids at school that bullied me after he left Denmark? How am I supposed to say that they bullied and harassed me for months until the day came when they decided it would be funny to stick my head in a toilet before pinning me to the ground and taking a razor to my arms, trying to make it look like a suicide?" I pause for a moment and look up to the ceiling to try holding back my tears. I take another breath and lowering my voice.

"How am I supposed to say that I was put on a 72-hour suicide watch and all I wanted was for the single most important person in my life to come back and hold me? You never returned my calls or emails, so how am I supposed to tell you that I've spent the last 5 years trying to fix myself so that I can function around people I don't know, without screaming every time someone puts their hand on my shoulder?" I pause again, feeling like I'm about to pass out from releasing all the anger that has been festering inside of me.

I sigh one more time and lower my voice.

"How am I supposed to tell a pro League of Legends player, who has been so happy with his life he's, never looked back, all of that? How am I supposed to tell you that?"

"Oh Karina, I didn't know." He says, seeming to be at a loss for words. "I'm so sorry Karina, I had no idea something that bad happened to you when I left."

"Of course you didn't, I never told you," I say, turning my back towards Bjergsen, "I made your family promise never to tell you too, because I didn't want to ruin the dream you've worked so hard for."

"I'm sorry I left you in Denmark and never responded to your messages. I heard you were excelling at school, so I didn't want to bother you," he says, approaching me and wrapping his arms around my shoulders.

"I only excelled so much because I just wanted out of that damn school. I ended up switching schools my last year and skipping my graduation because I was that new girl who couldn't make any friends." I say, letting out a small chuckle after realizing how much my life has changed in the last year.

"Are you okay now?" Soren asks, leaning into the crook of my neck. "I'm sorry I pushed too."

"No, no don't be sorry," I say, wiping my tears and putting my hand on his cheek. "It was something I should have talked to you about for a long time and I feel almost lighter now after talking, er, yelling through it with you. And I'm sorry for laying all of this on you when you're already stressed about everything else."

"Haha, its fine. That's what I'm here for, right? Boyfriend duties and all," He laughs, which has been a rarity in recent days.

"Yeah, and I'm glad you're here," I laugh, feeling much better. "But I'm worried about you too, you haven't been sleeping much the last few weeks and you're always on edge with everyone. Plus, you have been logging an insane amount of solo queue hours."

"Ah, you're right," he admits. "Can I be honest?"

I simply nod, not wanting to speak at the moment.

"It's just that I've been working like crazy to get better so we perform well at for finals, but it doesn't really affect me because I know how to deal and manage with work stress. But when it comes to you, I'm lost. I have no idea how to deal with a real girlfriend."

"I guess we are both learning," I say, giving him a crooked smile and a hug. "But seriously, you're over working yourself and that's definitely not healthy."

"I know. I just feel like there's something we are missing. The Koreans have been so dominant for so long and it feels like we are lacking something that they have." Soren says, still holding onto me.

"Yea, it seems like they are truly the master race," I laugh. "Well, I guess that's why we are a team. We are all here to work together to figure out what we can do as a team to improve, not just as individuals."

"Wait, that's it!" Soren shouts, "SKT are great individual players right? But they also play off each other's strengths and weaknesses so they are hella well rounded."

"Haha, I guess that's why they call it a team game?" I laugh as we both head for the bed. He wraps his arms around me as I bury my face in his chest and we fall asleep together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEYOOOO!
> 
> So, I died a little writing this chapter. I really like the development of the story so far, but the whole suicide section was super hard to write and to write it in a way that was reflective of the situation I was modelling it after.
> 
> Anyways, time to study for finals!
> 
> Have a good week!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	21. Calm Before The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HI HI!
> 
> So this chapter was super fun to write so I hope you guys liked it!
> 
> Also, I'm looking to do a separate series on LCS oneshots so if anyone has any pairings they would like me to do, just shoot me a message or comment below!
> 
> Thanks again!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam

We are winding down the weeks until the LCS Spring finals in lovely Vancouver Canada. Since we already secured our spot in the finals, we are just practicing and doing some filming while the other teams play for the other 3 spots.

"Ah, I'm so tired," I say, stretching my arms above my head and pushing my chair back.

"Tis the life of a pro gamer, squirt," Hauntzer says as he passes by my chair and looks at my computer screen. "What's this?"

"This?" I repeat, dragging my cursor over some Tumblr pictures.

"Yea, I've seen this art blog before. Do you know who runs it? I've been following this person on Tumblr for years after I first discovered their work." Hauntzer says as he takes over my mouse and scrolls through the feed.

"Um, its mine?" I ask in an odd question like tone, though its not actually a question.

"You run a Tumblr blog?" He asks, surprise apparent in his voice as he leans closer over my right shoulder.

"Who made that?" Biofrost asks, appearing over my left shoulder out of no where. "That's pretty good, like really good."

"I did, and thanks. This kind of stuff has been a hobby of mine along with gaming ever since I was little." I tell the two boys as they are still buys scrolling through my feed.

"Yo, why are we talking about cute little baby Karina?" Bjergsen asks as he trots into the computer room from the kitchen with Svenskeren.

"Check it out, like, this art is like, pretty cool," Svenskeren complements, "Who made it?"

"Ugh, I did, and remind me to show you guys things as a group so I don't have to repeat myself," I groan. As the boys are all now looking at my work, I decide to get up to grab a snack from the kitchen.

"Hey look, there's a drawing of us with our champions," Bjergsen points out as Hauntzer enlarges the photo.

"You guys ready to go yet?" Andy asks as he enters the gaming room with Leena. "Is that more fan art?"

"Oh wow! I've seen this one before and its super pretty. Is this the original artist?" Leena asks, getting closer to the computer and examining my handy work.

"Yea, its pretty cool. Who made it?" Andy asks.

"Karina," Hauntzer, Svenskeren, Bjergsen and Biofrost all say in unison, so I don't have to answer for the 4th time.

"Daym girl, I didn't know you had so many talents. Maybe we should get you to design our roster posters and merchandise from now on," Andy jokes, shaking my shoulders. "But we really should get going to the CLG house.

***

We arrived at CLG's gaming house and of course we were the last team to arrive since Bjerg spends a stupid amount of time in the bathroom.

"Ahhhh, Happy birthday Trevor!" I squeal as I give him a hug and hand him a tube-shaped gift which had one of my drawings of him surrounded by his favourite ADCs holding a birthday cake.

"Thank you for coming! I'm hella ready to get this party started!" He shouts, already sounding a little drunk.

Trevor heads to his room to put the gift away as the rest of the team disperse to get drinks and chat with other players. Holding another tube in my hand, I walk around the house, hunting for the other birthday boy.

I search for a couple of minutes and instead of finding the other guest of honour, I discovered I had a certain fluffy Siberian Husky following me.

"Haru, Haru!" I sing as the Husky places his paws on my torso, signaling for me to play with her. "Man, you've gotten so big since the last time I saw you! You used to be such a small girl, look at you now," I say as I run my hands through her thick black and white fur and rubbing the top of her head, right between her ears.

Haru looks up at me innocently, before snatching the other birthday gift from my hand and holding it between her teeth.

"Haru no, please," I try to reason with her while she gnaws on the end of the tube. "That's for your daddo, you doggo."

"I thought I heard someone yelling Haru's name," I hear as Huhi appears in front of me, laughing at the scene Haru and I are causing.

"Huhi-senpai! Happy birthday," I cheer as Huhi helps me up and I give him a hug. "I had a gift for you, but it's still in Haru's mouth."

"Ahah that's okay. Haru..." Huhi says in a warning tone as Haru bows her head and hands over the gift. "Oh wow, did you draw this?"

"Yep," I say, scratching the back of my head as Huhi admires my work. It's a digital work of Huhi riding his signature Aurelion Sol through a grassy field as Haru, Lulu, and Bard and his meeps follow behind.

"I didn't know you could do art like this, it's really good," Huhi complements, rolling it back up and putting it back in the canister for safety.

"Yea, that's what everyone says," I laugh as Huhi gives me another hug before putting his gift upstairs.

I travel around the house some more, before settling down onto a beanbag chair in the living room.

"Hey," I hear as Soren comes towards me, also sitting down on the beanbag chair. We shuffle around a bit trying to get comfortable. Hoping everyone is too drunk to notice, Soren's arm ends up around my shoulder while my arm rests on his torso.

"Karina?" I hear Soren's voice in the distance, "Hello?"

"Hm?" I say, snapping back to reality.

"I said, are you having fun?" He laughs.

"Oh haha, yea. What about you?"

"Mmm. Its pretty nice to relax for one night," He says, taking a sip from his red Solo cup.

"Is that, alcohol?" I ask, snatching the cup from his hand and swirl it as I examine his drink.

"No...maybe," He says mischievously as he takes his cup back.

"I don't know why you voluntarily drink that stuff. It tastes like ass man. Absolutely nasty."

"Oh? Do you know what ass tastes like?" He questions, raising his eyebrows at me as he takes another sip.

"No, but it was a figure of speech; a simile," I say back, giving him a cheeky grin. "Do you know what ass tastes like?"

"No, but maybe I will some day?" He says, giving me a wink as I fake gag at him.

"Yea, keep kissing Peter's ass and maybe you will get a taste some day," I shoot back, causing us both to laugh.

"Speaking of Peter," Soren says as he points towards a drunk DoubleLift who is currently professing his love to the very sober BioFrost.

"BioDaddy! BioDaddy!" Peter shouts as he slings his arm around Vincent and the rest of the players just watch and take pictures. "Did I ever tell you guys how HOT this guy is. Like oh my god, he just makes me want to take my shirt off!" Just as Peter is about to lift his shirt over his head, Smoothie and Dyrus step in.

"Whoa buddy, you probably don't want to do that," Dyrus says as he guides Peter to the couch in front of us and Smoothie takes his drink away.

"Karina! Soren! How ya two love birds doin'?" Peter slurs as he makes large gestures.

"Hey, you! Come here, you birthday boy," he demands as Stixxay, is pulled over. "Since it's your birthday, let me let you in on a little secret of ours. You see these two? These two have been friends for so long, they don't remember what it's like to not be friends. I mean, look at them, don't they look like a cute, cute couple?" He begins as he motions towards Soren and I.

I give Soren a confused look on where Peter is going with this as he shoots me back a more concerned look like something bad is going to happen.

"Do you know why?" Peter says in a hushed tone with his index finger held up to his lips. "Because they have been secretly dating for months now!" Peter shouts as the whole house turns to look.

"Ah, shit. Fucking Peter," Soren mutters bolts up and he, Dennis, and Kevin drag him out of the CLG house and back to the TSM headquarters, while Vincent and I follow closely behind too.

"So you two are dating?" Vincent asks.

"Dude, how have you not figured it out yet?" Kevin asks as he and Svenskeren prop Peter up on their shoulders.

"Yea, even I figured it out," Dennis chimes in.

"Yea and Dennis is pretty dense too," Soren quips as Vincent still looks surprised.

"Does Andy know?" He asks, causing my heart to race at the thought of Andy finding out.

"No, but he probably will know after tonight. I just hope he doesn't have a problem with it."


	22. Anticipation

t was time.

It was finally time to get on the plane that will fly me and the rest of TSM off to Vancouver for the Spring 2016 Finals. The flight was pretty uneventful and we got to our hotel smoothly, despite the downtown Vancouver traffic and the only bump in the road we had was the rooming situation.

We decided to mix up the rooms. Usually the bot lane gets to share a room, but since it was kind of weird sharing a room with Vincent, who also got deathly sick a couple days ago and is probably still contagious, it was decided Vincent would get his own room to not contaminate the rest of us, while Soren and I, and Kevin and Dennis shared a room.

"Bro, if Dennis snores hella loud again, I'm coming over to your room in the middle of the night," Kevin says as he rubs the residual sleep from his eyes and we head down to the gym for a morning workout.

"Haha, fine, you can sleep with Soren then," I laugh.

"But you're the girlfriend, so you should. Plus, I know you guys have been sneaking into each other's rooms at night and sleeping together anyways," Kevin says, as my face burns hot.

"H-how did you know that?" I stutter, glancing over at Soren who is trying his best not to react.

"I didn't." Kevin answers casually, "But you just told me you did. So now you have to let me in tonight."

"Kevin!" I shout, giving him a playful slap, "Don't do that to me! I thought you actually knew by some weird chance. You better not tell anyone or else I'm telling Luna."

"Ahaha I won't," He laughs as he opens the door for me and we start warming up. "By the way, does Andy know yet?"

"Uh, I don't think so? Peter shouted it in front of like 5 other teams, but we haven't gotten a talk from Andy about it yet...Wait, I didn't even know Peter knew."

"Bruh, you would kind of have to be blind to not know," Kevin says, stretching out his arms as I stare at him quizzically. "Dude, you guys are like the most non-secretive people in the world. Soren gets jealous whenever a guy is gets to close to you and you kinda bitch out when he does the same with girls. Not to mention you guys were mad at each other, then after one night alone you two were magically better."

"Oh, I never thought of that," I say tapping my finger on my bottom lip as I remember each situation. "You know, Andy did ask me how Soren was doing in his 'personal affairs' a couple of weeks ago, and asked if I could help him out with his problems. I thought it was just because he knows we are long time friends and I was the best person to help him."

"Yea, no. He usually helps unwind Bjerg, but you were the best option because he knows," Kevin says matter-of-factly.

"But what about-"

"He knows," Kevin cuts me off as I just let a sigh out and await "the talk" from Andy.

"Just, shut up and start your work out, you twit," I say, shoving him over to the equipment he normally uses.

"Please, you are the one who needs to get gains," he snorts back as I stick my tongue out at him before putting in earbuds and getting into my workout zone.

***

Today, Pheonix 1 and FlyQuest play for 3rd and 4th place of the split. We arrived at the arena a couple hours before the doors opened to let fans in and we were just chilling and eating with C9 in the lounge area, waiting for the photo ops with fans to begin.

"Who do you think is going to win today?" Jensen asks as he wraps his arm around Sneaky's shoulders lovingly.

"Recycled C9 is looking pretty good so far," Soren says as he takes a bite of his burrito from the catering Riot has graciously provided us with.

"Nah, I think your butt buddy is gonna take the win," I say, nodding towards Sneaky who gives me a nod and an overly sexualized face.

"Yea, I agree with Bjerg, fake C9 is going to stomp P1 just like real C9 is going to stomp you guys," Smoothie says as the room settles before bursting into laughter.

"Holy shit, that's actually so savage," Vincent says, dying of laughter.

"Yo, you're going to give the Canadians a bad rep with that comment," Jensen says.

"Well, you already give Danes a bad name, Nic." I shoot back as Jensen looks appalled. He shoots up from his chair and starts chasing me around.

"Come back her you little shit!" Jensen yells as I weave through the other players and head towards the food table.

"Come on Nic. Don't rage, you wouldn't want to get banned for being toxic again, would you?" I say innocently, earning a round of Ooos from the guys.

"You're really going to get it now!" He shouts, diving under the table as I'm narrowly able to escape his reach and hid behind Biofrost.

"BioDaddy, heeeeeeeeelp! Stranger danger! Stranger Danger! A strange praying mantis looking man is chasing me." I holler as Jensen tries to grab me, but I use Biofrost as protection.

"Why am I always the shield?" The young support exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Because you the support," Impact laughs, as he and the rest of the teams watch the fiasco.

"Hey! TSM, C9, time for the fan meet!" A Riot employee informs us as we all head out.

"I'm sorry and I still love you Nicolaj," I say, finally settling down and giving him a hug.

"Love you to Kare-bear, but we are still going to smash you tomorrow," Jensen winks as he runs off to meet up with the rest of his team.

***

We were already half an hour through the fan meet and there were still a ton of fans to get through. Luckily, C9 and us had relatively even lines, or else we would be here 5-ever.

Meeting the fans was pretty fun for me, though I'm sure the rest of the guys were already tired of doing it for so many years. I really liked chatting with the fans and I was surprised to see the amount of people, girls especially, who said they were inspired by me being one of the few females on a professional team. The fans were also allowed to give us gifts, so we each had a small pile building up that we eventually had to take back to the preparation room.

Among the crowd of people, I noticed one cosplayer that stuck out like a beautiful sore thumb.

"Luna?" I exclaim as she reaches the front of the line and I rush over to give her a hug.

"Ah Karina! I missed you! How have you been?" She asks as she walks over in her Battle Bunny Riven cosplay and gives me a hug.

"Wow, what about me?" Hauntzer asked with his arms open wide to embrace Luna. "Ah, I didn't know you were cosplaying today. You should have come earlier to hang out with us."

"Mmm, I wanted to surprise you, babe." Luna giggles as she scoots in between Hauntzer and Svenskeren for a photo.

"You still should have told me, I would have picked you up from the airport or something."

"Please, like you can drive," Svenskeren chimes in, making Hauntzer turn a light hue of pink just as the photo is being taken

"Luna, wait!" Hauntzer calls as he tosses her something he took out from his pocket. Luna catches it with ease, despite still holding onto her blade with one hand.

"What was that?" I ask Hauntzer as he quickly walks back to the team.

"Oh, that little battle bunny always forgets her pass, so I had an extra just in case," he laughs as we continue with the rest of the fan meet.

***

"Babe! I missed you!"

"Haha, I missed you so much to babe! Did I surprise you?"

"You really did. I had no idea you were coming to watch us play, but you look hella cute, like always."

"Aweeee, come here."

"Is that what we're going to be like?" I whisper to Soren, who is sitting next to me on the sofa as we both hear the quiet sounds of kissing.

"God, I hope not. That's way too much PDA for me"

"Honestly, same. Pls senpai, only behind closed doors can you kiss me like that."

"Haha, this is why we get along so well," Soren laughs as Biofrost and Svenskeren enter with the Cloud 9 team and the couple next to us finally separates their faces.

"Um, so guys. I have something to say," Hauntzer says as he stands up, holding onto Luna's hand. "I would like everyone to meet my girlfriend, Luna 'BitterSweet' Huang."

"Hello, its nice to finally meet you all," Luna says, as her cheeks are already starting to deepen in hue. "Um, my ign is BitterSweet, but you all can call me Luna. I do music covers for a living, I love all video games, but right now I'm still going to university."

"Not a surprise that Adonis here, got himself a pretty cute girlfriend." Jensen says, eliciting the signature 'same' from Sneaky

"Wow, Kev, you never told me you had a girlfriend. No more ganks for you," Svenskeren jokes, as the boys pretend to square up with each other.

"Maybe it was because I wanted to keep her all to myself man," Hauntzer says back as he goes in for a fake grab.

"I mean the fan-girls don't call him Hot-zer for no reason," Impact laughs.

"Kevin! You dirty liar. Karina and I knew months ago," Bjergsen calls out as he heads to join in the fight.

"Shut up, Soren. At least we were more discrete in liking each other than you and Karina," Luna shoots back to defend her boyfriend as some peoples' eyebrows raise in surprise of her savagery.

"Haha, I love you so much Lulu," I laugh, giving her a hug.

"Hey! You're supposed to defend me back!" Bjergsen whines.

"Nah, I still like Luna more than you, ya dork," I say, giving Soren a cheeky grin before giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Awe, come on guys, no mushy boyfriend girlfriend stuff like that," Jensen whines.

"You're just jealous because you know you will never replace butt buddy Sneaky truly loves, Meteos," I shoot back.

"Hey, I'll have you know Jensen is a great but buddy. He even lets me be top sometimes," Sneaky jokes as the room explodes into laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLOOOO!
> 
> I just realized I didn't write that drafts for the chapters to come because I just mislabeled them... I legit went from chapter 20 to 22, 23, 25...etc
> 
> Ffs, school makes me unable to count.
> 
> Anyways, I just drafted out a few chapter and oh boy, I'm dying. Things get super emotionally crazy, and I even balled my eyes out writing a couple chapters, but I'm excited to get editing those and posting them soon!
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam!


	23. Finals

"Welcome everyone to the League of Legends, Spring 2016 Finals in Vancouver, Canada!" Phreak announces as the Canadian crowd goes wild. "Are you ready to meet the teams?" He announces as the crowd roars and the video of both TSM and C9 highlights begin to show.

Backstage, I'm a nervous wreck.

My palms are sweaty, knees weak, and I feel like I'm about to have a heart attack. I let out a deep breath and follow the rest of my team onstage, trying to smile and wave to the crowd without puking all over the place. I smile towards the C9 boys and we each head to our respective side so we could start gearing up for our final series of the split.

***

The first 4 games passed quickly. We were able to stomp C9 the first two games, though we also made some careless mistakes. Unfortunately, C9 is on a roll right now, winning matches 3 and 4 and they were now looking to reverse sweep us, but I'll be dammed if I let that happen.

***

Once picks began, Ray basically instalocked Lulu, who was a super meta support, for Smoothie while we were able to snag the champions we wanted. All 10 players loaded into the rift and our final match to determine the Spring 2016 Champions was underway.

***

Within the first 5 minutes, Contractz and Ray were able to get first blood on Hauntzer, causing him to cuss at his death while I get ignited by Lulu and if it weren't for Biofrost, I would have also died. Luckily, Bjergsen was able to bait Jensen into going for a kill and, with the help of Svenskeren, Bjerg was able to secure the kill.

Hauntzer was able to get a beautiful ulti on Keld, cancelling Ray's ult out, while Svenskeren jumps in to help. With the health bar of Ray decreasing, Contractz jumps over the baron wall, attempting to help his top laner, but just as Ray enters the baron pit, he is followed by Svenskeren who kicks Ray, ultimately killing him while Hauntzer is able to kill Contractz with the help of Bjergsen.

"Nice-uuu," I say into the mic while Sneaky and I are still having a slap fight over the creeps in bot lane.

We were able to secure our first Ocean Dragon, but C9 pushed a fight, resulting in 2 kills for us and 3 kills for C9, causing the kills to now be even at 5 for each team. We were almost immediately thrown into another clown fiesta as Hauntzer got too close to Contractz and died under tier 2 mid tower, though Bjergsen was able to get revenge and Biofrost and I were in the middle of hunting a Sneaky roamer on our blue side. Luckily, we were able to take down Sneaky, but not before he killed Biofrost.

Around 20 minutes in, Ray on Kled was really starting to become a nuisance because he was noe able to solo Hauntzer, so Svenskeren often had to stay with his top laner. The game went on with small fights and towers taken here and there. Baron was threatened to be taken, but each side was playing so tightly and nobody wanted to be the first to make a fateful mistake.

Svenskeren pinged for us to take Elder Drake while Sneaky was still half health and the rest of C9 was a reasonable distance away. The 4 of us are surrounding Elder as Ray, Jensen, and Contractz enter the fight while Hauntzer is still TP-ing.

I hear everyone scream to take Jensen down first, so I land my ulti onto him to stun, but we aren't able to get enough damage onto him. In a stroke of luck, Jensen, as Ekki, steps too close to Bjergsen, who lands his Syndrs Q Ult and shreds through Jensen faster than he can spam his Zhonyas or ult.

We loudly cheer as the fight has just been opened up. Biofrost follows up with the Nami ult, causing C9's team to scatter and allowing Hauntzer and Svenskeren to finish off Smoothie and Ray before we take down Elder and head for their base.

With C9 trying to rush down our mid turret and inhibitor with Baron buff, the call is made for Hauntzer and Svenskeren to head back take care of Sneaky and Contractz so Bjerg, Biofrost, and I are able to take their base.

That is exactly what happens as C9's nexus turrets are destroyed and ultimately their nexus shatters.

Huge cannons shoot confetti everywhere and a wash of emotions overcome me as I immediately lean my elbows on the table and burry my hands in my face, beginning to sob, as the rest of my team shoot up from their chairs in celebration. I feel a pair of hands on my shoulders that give me a reassuring squeeze before pulling me out of my chair and into a warm embrace.

Lifting my head, I see the circle of TSM members with Soren on my left, one arm draped over my shoulder, and Biofrost on the other side, grinning from ear to ear.

"We did it!" I hear Dennis shout as we all do a quick TSM chant before heading towards center stage and being joined by Andy and Parth. Kevin is the first to lay hands on the shiny new award and lifts it high as the rest of us lay a hand on it. We celebrate amongst ourselves as Hauntzer gets ready for his interview with Rivington.

After a couple of pictures, we were all quickly whisked off the stage so Smoothie and Arrow, who was MVP of the split, could get interviewed. Instead of following the rest of the team who was off for an interview, I hoped the camera crews wouldn't notice as I made my way around the side of the stage where C9 was still sitting in their chairs.

I hop on to the stage and pull Nicolaj from his seat to give him a comforting hug and whispering words of encouragement in his ear, before jumping back down and running to meet up with the rest of my team.

***

We currently stood in our roster lineup while conducting an interview with Phreak. Phreak went down the line, asking each of us questions and giving us some fun facts, like how Svenskeren was the first jungler in TSM history to win 2 championships.

"Syntax, on to you. Walk me through exactly what it was like to go through this series and ultimately come out on top."

"Um, this series, along with the rest of this split, has really been a rollercoaster. For me, personally, all of this is really overwhelming. I went from being a girl who just graduated from university in Denmark, to being on one of the best pro League of Legends teams in NA, all in the span of a couple months."

"Is there anything specific that got you to this point right here, because not many people can say that they won their regional finals in their rookie year, not to mention, you also got ADC of the split."

"Ahaha, of course I thank the fans for being supportive, but obviously I wouldn't be here without my team. I think the key is that we have learned to work together as an amazing cohesive unit and that's shown by Hauntzer, Bjergsen, Biofrost and I being awarded the top player in our respective positions this split. This could have been a clean TSM MVP sweep, but instead of becoming Jungler of the split, Svenskeren just ended up becoming super jacked instead," I joke as my team and the crowd burst into laughter.

Phreak moves on to question the rest of the team.

"Okay, I think I'm just about out of questions, but I have one more for Syntax before we go, it's not really a question, but more of what where you thinking while you were doing this." He says in a leading manner.

"Okay, go for it," I say, not trying to sound nervous of what Phreak was going to ask.

"Now, you probably thought we didn't catch this, but I assure you, we catch everything. Now, some of the audience members may not have seen this, but we watched you as you were coming off stage to do this interview, and instead of heading out with your team, you ran around the stage, towards C9's side, and got up on stage and gave Jensen a hug, before running back here. Honestly, I've never seen that before and I was a little surprised."

"Yea... I really was hoping nobody would bring that up," I laugh. "This is something people may or may not understand, but like a lot of other pro players, I try to keep my work and personal lives separate. Jesnsen and I were friends long before I became 'TSM Syntax'. Jensen has an amazing work ethic and the moment I walked off that stage, I saw the state he was in. Just, as a friend, I went up on stage to try and calm all the adrenaline that was fueling him and give him the hug I knew he needed. In that moment, I was just Karnia to him, just like how if anybody were to see me outside of this game, I would be just Karina, not Syntax."

"Yea, that totally makes sense. Obviously we all care about the game and doing well, but some people forget that there is a world outside and on the outside, we are all just normal people. Anyways, thank you for the interview. Is there anything you guys would like to say before you go?" Phreak asks, as we turn to each other.

"I love you BioDaddy!" Hauntzer shouts as the crowd cheers and we all break into laughter, except Biofrost who hangs his head at being turned into a meme.

***

"We won." I said to myself as I throw my tired body onto my bed.

"Yea we did," I jump a little after hearing a voice respond. "You played well for your first split." Soren says as he comes and sits next to me.

"Thanks. I'm just happy I didn't feed," I laugh, thinking about how the games went and how many mistakes I still have to fix.

"I knew you would be fine," he says, laying down next to me.

"Mhm I'm just glad we get a break before the next split," I mumble, already falling asleep.

"Haha, does that mean we get to go on more dates?"

"Sure..." I say softly.

"Karina, I lov..." The voice drifts off as the sleepiness from the exciting day take over me and snuggling closer to the body that holds me gently

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KYAAAAAAAAA
> 
> Sorry, this was supposed to be out a day or two ago, but I got super sick with the flu over the weekend so I couldn't update. Plus some of the grammar is a little wonkey.
> 
> Also, I think im going to put in 1 or 2 more arcs before ending this book, but I'm not sure how to end it. Lol some advice friends?
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam
> 
> P.s. give me one shot descriptions pls cuz i really want to write some cute stuffs


	24. Official

It's the morning after Spring finals and we are still in Vancouver.

Bjergsen was already awake when I turn around and wrap my arms and legs around him.

"Well, good morning to you too," he laughs. "What are you doing?"

"It's called Koala-ing," I tell him, squeezing tighter.

"Oh yea? I'm just going to have to Koala you back," Bjerg says as he wiggles around and somehow manages to turn so he is facing me.

"Heyyy, no fair, trees aren't allowed to turn around," I whine playfully, which makes him laugh and wrap his arms around m body. "Mmmm, but I guess begin like this is okay."

"We have another day until we leave, so what do you want to do today? Should we go on a date?" Before I can answer, there's a knock at the door. Letting out a groan, Soren, who is still shirtless, flings off the covers and heads to answer it. To my surprise, Andy walks into our hotel room, with a serious look on his face. My gut clenches and I have a feeling I know what he's going to say.

"Hey, sorry for coming this early and you guys aren't even dressed yet, but I have a few urgent things I need to talk to you about." He says, taking a seat on one of the chairs. "Why didn't you tell me you two were dating?" Andy asks, getting straight to the point.

"Um," Bjergsen begins as we glance at each other. "We weren't expecting to get together, actually."

"But you guys did start a while ago and had plenty of time to tell me," Andy says, his expression darkening.

"I know, and we're sorry," I say, trying to find a way to make it all not seem so bad. "We've been taking precautions keep our personal and work relationship separate, so we didn't think we needed to tell you."

"Yea? And how has that worked out?" Andy asks rhetorically, before letting out a sigh.

My chest tightens in anticipation for those dreaded words I know Andy is going to tell us.

"Look, things got rough half way through the season. There was suddenly a problem between the two of you where nobody knew what was going on, and then there was that stunt with Bjerg and Kevin. I can't have that happening within a team that is supposed to be family to each other."

"But family fight every once in a while," Bjergsen interjects, sounding more adamant this time. "The thing between Karina and I, and Kevin, was largely work stress related and Karina is the only person who could help me sort all that out. Yea, Karina and I are dating, but we are also teammates who push each other to be better players and now we know each other's limits on balancing work and personal life. I honestly don't think we need to break up."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Andy says, looking a little surprised. "You didn't let me finish. I never said to break up." A wave of relief washes over me as the words escape Andy's mouth. "I've seen how hard you two push each other, and I've seen each of you crack and begin to break down. But I've also seen how you two pick each other up and keep going. I'm not worried yet about your relationship, but if problems start coming up, we are going to have a serious talk."

"Oh my god, thank you Andy! I would hug you right now, but I'm kinda still in PJs," I laugh.

"Oh, also, you two are staying in Vancouver with Luna and Kevin for a couple of days while the rest of us fly back to LA tomorrow," Andy says getting up from his seat and heading for the door, "You two deserve a break and all I ask is that you use protection," he laughs as the door swings shut behind him.

"Did he just say we get some time off?" I ask, still a little shocked at the generous gift.

"Yea, I guess so," Bjergsen says casually before hopping on to the bed. "So, what should we do today, my lovely girlfriend?"

***

Since Luna was a local to Vancouver, she decided to take the team on a tour of a local hot spot called Granville Island, which to my surprise wasn't actually an island.

"Wow, this toy shop is huge!" I exclaim, looking up at the big red building with many glass windows.

"Let's check it out," Bjergsen says, grabbing my hand as we trail behind Luna and the rest of the team.

We spend a couple hours at Granville Island touring around the food market and quaint shops scattered around, before having dinner in downtown Vancouver and then heading back to the hotel for the night.

"Ugh, I'm exhausted," I groan, laying down on the bed as soon as I take my shoes off.

"Me too," Bjergsen agrees, lying down next to me and rubbing his mini pot belly.

"You want to watch a movie?"

"I thought you said you were tired," he says, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Yea, but wouldn't it be nice to just watch a movie in bed and just fall asleep after?" I say, getting up and heading to the washroom to wash up for the night.

"I guess so," Bjergsen agrees as he joins me in the washroom.

While brushing my teeth, I scroll through the photos that Luna had taken and sent me from the afternoon, trying to find the perfect one.

I swipe past the photo of everyone in front of the toy shop, the photo of Svenskeren getting his finger stuck in a lobster and Biofrost trying to help him get it off, and the photo of Luna jumping onto Hauntzer's back and them almost falling in the process. Finally, I find the perfect one and add a caption to it.

"Is this ok babe?" I ask Bjergsen who still has his toothbrush in his mouth.

"Ywa, it wooks graht," He says with toothpaste foam still in his mouth.

"Kay, thanks!" I say before giving Bjerg a quick peck on the cheek and heading for the bed.

Karina Bjerg @TSMSyntax

"It's official guys!"

(Insert photo)

The photo is of, well of course, Soren and I, standing in the middle of a hand made stone path. Soren is standing casually with his arms around my waist and looking down at me. Me, on the other hand, I'm looking up at him with my arms around his neck, trying my best to match his height by tip toeing. Smiles on or faces, our foreheads are touching ever so gently as my skirt and hair blow in the wind with the cherry blossoms fall.

I post onto Twitter, before moving to Instagram and Tumblr. "We look so cute, don't we," I giggle while looking at the new photo.

"Yes, you always look so cute," Bjergsen says, hopping into bed and flipping through some movies.

"Ugh, you're lucky I love cheesy romances, or else I woulda gagged on how mushy that was," I say, trying to sound fake disgusted

"Just don't puke on me and we're good."

"Haha, eew. I would never purposely vomit on you," I laugh.

We finally decide on a new movie called The Huntsman: Winter's War. I curl up next to Soren who has his arm around my shoulder and is enthralled in the movie. I lay my head on his chest, eyes getting heavy as a result of the busy day and relaxing, rhythmic beating of his heart.

Before I know it, the noise of the movie drifts away, and my consciousness leaves along with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ****
> 
> HEYOOOOOO
> 
> I'm finally done my semester and its onto FINALS WEEK(S)!
> 
> I actually want to die because I have 3 back to back finals next week, so I wont be updating until the weekend T.T (But there might be another update tonight or tomorrow if I feel like procrastinating again)
> 
> Anyways, I really hoped you liked this chapter!
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	25. Alone

Zach: Karina? Have you checked Twitter?

Vincent: Hey...

Will: Yo, have you seen it yet?

Jae: Karina, how are you doing?

Peter: Do you want to talk?

Hai: Kare-bear, you're not going to like this...

Poki: KARINA! I just heard. I'm here if you want to talk. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***
> 
> Sorry, this was a weird chapter.
> 
> I was low key inspired by going through twitter and seeing some super toxic tweets and it kinda sparked on of those social media anonymity issues within me...
> 
> Sorry if it was a little disjointed, I've been at school for 14 hours and my brain is fried...
> 
> Good luck to everyone with exams!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	26. Patches

After a couple of relaxing days in Vancouver, Hauntzer, Bjergsen, and I say our farewells to Luna and head back to LA to prepare for the upcoming season.

During the couple of weeks between splits, Biofrost and I have been working on to perfect our bot lane synergy by logging hours of solo queue together and even becoming rank 1 and 2 in challenger.

As if it couldn't come any sooner, the first match of summer split was about to start and we happened to be the season opening team against C9.

"You ready?" Biofrost asks me as we enter into champion select.

"Boy, you know I'm ready. I've been waiting for this for the last few weeks," I say, excited to play against C9, but especially Sneaky, whom I've learned a lot from since last split.

"Okay guys," Parth says as the first ban phase begins. "Take out Kindred, Ekko, and Vlad," he instructs as C9 bans Nidalee, Ryze, and Zed. We ended up picking Maokai, Graves, Zilean, Lucian, and Karma, while C9 picks Trundle, Rek'sai, Viktor, Ezreal, and Nami.

Going into the match, we knew that the Ezreal/Nami could be deadly if either Trundle or Rek'sai could get a slow onto us, but we also knew that Hauntzer loves his tree champion and Bjerg has been practicing a ton of Zilean, despite the flack he's gotten from some of the fans.

We load into the rift and begin making our way towards the enemy jungle, trying to set up an early game ambush. We see as Nami walks (swims?) over our ward, but we wait for Reksai to appear so we can really mess up their early game.

Rek'sai does end up walking straight into us, resulting in first blood less and a double kill for me, less than 2 minutes into the match. From that point on, we began trading kills and objectives like crazy.

"Watch out, watch out, watch out!" Biofrost calls as he gives me a speed boost. I narrowly avoid Nami's bubble and Ezreal's combo. "Karina, did you not see them?"

"Um, sorry, I'll be more careful next time," I apologize, trying to get my head back into the correct mindset.

It was now 40 minutes into the match and looking exactly like a repeat of the spring split's finals. We end up baiting baron and then quickly turning onto C9, swiftly killing their ADC and Mid laners as we look to finish the rest of the team off.

C9's nexus explodes and we do a quick group hug before heading over to shake C9's hands and Kobe pulls me aside for a quick interview.

"So Syntax, you guys just won your first game of the season, how does it feel?"

"Uh, honestly, it feels a bit bitter sweet. I didn't play as well as I should have been able to today, which is super disappointing, but luckily, I have amazing teammates who were able to pick up the extra slack, so we were able to pull out a win."

"I see, and pull out a win you guys did. Now, I hear a rumor going around that a certain ADC is returning to TSM, this time as an analyst," Kobe says, alluding to the obvious addition that has yet to be officially announced.

"Haha, well you guys should hear the truth straight from the source. Let me welcome back, the one and only, the master of the chipmunk smile and bowl cut hair, DoubleLift!" I announce as the crowd goes wild at the surprise.

"Oh man! Here he is!" Kobe exclaims as DoubleLift walks out from behind the backstage curtains. The crowd continues to cheer and starts up the famous TSM chant as he waves in appreciation, joining us on stage.

"Man, I missed you LiftLift," I say giving him a hug and handing him a spare microphone.

"So DoubleLift, anything you have to say?"

"Yea, so I'm officially back on TSM. Syntax has proved she is an amazing ADC and I have confidence the TSM will do well, but I also wanted to help this split, so I'm coming back as an analyst/preparation coach."

"Oh, I see. Is there anything you're hoping to accomplish during the summer split?"

"Yea, definitely win Worlds," DoubleLift says confidently. "I want to beat these smug Asians." He chuckles as the crowd goes wild at the infamous quote.

"Haha, well, thank you DoubleLift and Syntax for being here. I wish you the best of luck and we are going to throw it back to the analyst desk."

With the interview finished, we head out for a fan meet, then head back to the house to talk about the match and some more solo queue.

***

"I forgot how tiring LCS and solo queue is," I say, after stopping my Twitch stream and logging off League.

"Yep, its time to get back to work," Bjergsen says as he ends his stream too. "Time for bed?" He whispers as he grabs my hand and pulls me up from my chair, heading towards my bedroom.

I start getting ready for bed when Soren comes from his bedroom and joins me in our shared washroom. "You. Look. Cute," he says, casually placing his hands on my hips as he kisses me between each word.

"Mhmm," I mumble, trying to keep my thoughts straight as my hips begin to sway and Soren starts to trail down my neck. "Not tonight babe, I'm really tired," I shrug Soren off and head into my room.

"But Karina, you're too hot, I can't control myself," Soren jokes as he pulls me into bed so that I'm straddling his waist.

"Hehe, what do you think you're doing Mr. Soren Bjerg?" I giggle, feeling slightly embarrassed at our positions.

"Mmm, I think I'm waiting for my girlfriend to show me how her being top feels like," Soren ponders as he scratches the bottom of his chin.

"You're so weird," I laugh, leaning down for a kiss, which quickly turns into a few kisses, and then a more feverish make out session.

"Mmmhehe, Karina. You know. We've been. Together. For a while now," Soren says between breaths, before we separate and I sit back up.

"Yea, and I'm glad we are still together," I say as I gently caress his cheek and giving it a gentle pinch.

"Me too, but I was wondering when..." The sight of Soren's face begins to fade as my vision begins to blur and dark splotches begin to appear. I look around and the patches seem to move without correlation to where I'm looking. I close my eyes, hoping the patches go away.

"Karina?" Soren's voice along with a hard shake by my shoulders brings be back as I tentatively open my eyes.

"Hm?" I say, looking around and noticing the absence of the patches.

"You kinda zoned out when I mentioned, you know, it," He says, giving me a mixed look of concern and anxiousness as he gently chews on his bottom lip.

"It? Uh yea, that, uh I mean it." I repeat, trying to fill in the blanks, but my mind isn't focusing anymore and I have no idea what he's talking about. "I'm sorry Soren. I'm just super tired and going into full zombie mode right now."

"Oh," is all he's able to say as I get off his lap and lay down next to him, disappointment evident in his eyes.

"Rain cheque?" I ask, not wanting to let Soren down, though I don't really know what the rain cheque is for.

"Okay," Soren sighs, "But you have to be my little spoon today."

"Aren't I always the little spoon?" I laugh as I turn my back towards Soren and he holds me from behind. There is a comforting, secure feeling as he wraps his arms around me and I can feel his small chuckle before we fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ARGHHHHAOEBTUEPR!
> 
> 3 finals done, one more to go! I'm super disappointed in myself since I messed up my 2nd and 3rd final, but I should still pass the courses. But, ugh, my final today was so baaaaaaaaad. My professor wanted so much detail in his answers and I skipped a lot of the ☹
> 
> Anyways, it's the return of LiftLift and Karina and Soren are getting, ahem, closer with every day! 
> 
> Time to work on a bit of this story and then the One Shots, but I'm testing out new writing stiles and trying to figure out cute storylines for a variety of players.
> 
> Someone help a girl out pls!
> 
> Until next time!  
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	27. Blindspot

Hey Karina," Bjergsen laughs at his desk next to me. "What do you think?"

Soren Bjerg @Bjergsen

"That face when your girl is upset she didn't play well today and ignores you..."

(Insert Photo: It's a selfie Bjergsen took of him and Karina. Bjergsen gives a small duck face with his back turned to Karina, who is at her computer with her elbows on the table and both hands on her cheeks, and a discontent frown while she watches the replay of today's match)

"But I still think you're cute <3"

"Sorennnnnn," I whine as the rest of the team is shown the not so flattering photo of me. Bjergsen just gives me a smirk and shrugs his shoulders before showing Twitch chat.

"Karina, you've basically played the first 4 weeks of this split perfectly, so you are allowed to not have a spotless game this week," Bjergsen encourages.

"Hey, not with that attitude we aren't going to beat the Koreans."

"Well, I guess we should get back to practicing then," Bjergsen laughs as I give him a cheeky smile.

We both load into our games and somehow my team is able to pull out a win, despite having a feeding Warwick jungle and lackluster Teemo top.

"Ugh, that was such a painful game," I say, after signing off League and stretching my arms above my head, cracking my stiff back.

"Yea, kinda painful, but whatever its done. Time for bed?"

"Yep, we got a big day, lets break our record and make it 11/0." I laugh as we make our way upstairs

***

"And here comes Hauntzer with a flank and Camille ult into the backline of P1!" Phreak shouts as TSM is quickly able to waste away the health bars of their opponents, and ultimately securing the ace.

P1 and TSM were currently in their 3rd game against each other, and despite some slip ups, the game was currently in favour of TSM.

"Elder?" Bjergsen pings as we all enter the pit, quickly chunking down the monster.

"Okay baron now. We can do it before their timers come up." Hauntzer instructs as we make our way towards the other side of the map.

I'm currently on fire, going 5/1/3 on Caitlyn, making it easy to kill Baron and anything else that stands in my way. I right click to auto move my champion over to Baron pit when my vision begins to go blurry. I blink a few times hoping it will resolve, but it just gets worse. Trying to ignore it, I continue to Baron, but the everything goes dark.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I can't see," I say, thinking the power in the stadium just went out.

"Wait, what!" I hear Bjergsen shout into the mic. "Ref time out, time ou-"

Bjergsen's voice is cut out mid sentence and all I can hear is the muffled sound of the audience. I feel a slight tap on my shoulder but see nobody, everything is still dark. What the hell is going on?

"Syntax, are you alright?" A female voice comes through my headphones, startling me.

"What?" I say, as my brain is trying to register what's going on.

"Bjergsen called a time out for you, so we cut the feed between you and the rest of your team. What is the reason for your time out?" The voice asks again.

"I uh, can't exactly see." I say, trying to figure out the right word, "like, I think I'm going blind or something. Everything is dark."

"Oh," The voice says with a hit of surprise as if she doesn't know what to do. "Has this happened before?"

"No. Never. Just um, I need a few minutes," I say as I close my eyes. I take a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart and try to get myself back into the correct headspace.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Relax and get through this game

Carefully, I reopen my eyes, squinting because of the bright lights above. Whew that was a close one, I didn't think that would work.

"Syntax?" The voice presses, slightly more annoyed this time. I quickly look over at my teammates and see them all staring at me with worried looks.

"Yea, I'm fine now. Sorry," I apologize as the game goes back a couple of seconds before resuming.

"So what was that all about?" Bjergsen asks immediately after our communications are restored. 

"Uh, honestly I don't know, but let's focus on the game and I'll tell you guys later," I say as we resume our original plan and head to take Baron. It wasn't too long after Baron, that we were able to secure the win.

"Wooo another day, another win," Hauntzer cheers as we head back to our warm up room to put away our gear.

"So you going to tell us what the pause was all about?" Bjergsen asks, arms folded as he takes a seat on one of the chairs. I look around and the rest of the team, including Andy and Parth, are patiently waiting for my answer.

"Well, I don't exactly know what's going on, but in the middle of the match, I suddenly couldn't see," The team appears surprised, but I continue anyways, "It's never happened to me before, so I'm not sure what's going on."

"Wait, Karina, didn't something similar happen to your mom?" Bjergsen asks, making me think about the situation again.

"Actually, yea something similar did happen to my mom years ago. But I really hope I don't have what she did."

"Well, I guess we should go get you checked out then," Andy says, standing up and tossing my jacket at me. "Let's go to your doctor right now and figure out what's going on."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoopy!
> 
> JK
> 
> I decided to do another update today since both chapters are super short.
> 
> 1 more final this week then I'm done for the year!!!! WaHooo
> 
> Have a good weekend friends!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	28. Lost and Found

w are the new meds going?" Soren casually asks as he hands me a glass of water.

"Not bad," I say, popping a few pills into my mouth and taking a swig of water. "I haven't had anymore blackouts since the P1 game, but the doctors still want to do more testing."

"Must be stressful on you then," he says and I nod my head.

To be honest, I'm exhausted. Being poked and prodded by all these doctors and having medical terms thrown at you, like you're immediately supposed to understand what they mean is just so tiring and frustrating, since they can't seem to figure out what is wrong.

"Well, how would you like a day off to go on a date?" Soren asks, as he holds up 2 tickets to the summer market I've been wanting to go to.

"What? No way," I say astonished, "how did you get Andy to let us off for the day?"

"It was actually his idea. He sees you've been practicing a lot and that you are very stressed out, so he wanted you to have these to try to relax for a day so you can be rested before going into week 7.

"Wow, that's so generous. I'll have to thank him later."

"Yep, but for now, get ready to go, because we are leaving in 15 minutes."

***

The Uber drops Soren and I off at the market around 1:00pm and we promptly pay the driver and head for the entrance. I quickly grab onto Soren's hand since neither of us had ever been to the market before, and the sheer size of the place was quite overwhelming. We walk hand in hand around the market for a couple of hours, looking at various knickknacks, artwork, and hand-crafted items alike.

"How do I look?" Soren asks, holding a hand crafted wooden mask up to his face and dancing around awkwardly.

"Haha, you look like a dork," I laugh as he hands the mask back to the booth operator and grabs me by the waist.

"But I'm a good-looking dork, right?" He asks as his face hovers just inches above mine and I can feel the warmth emanating off his skin.

"You're the best looking dork I've ever seen," I say, giving him a small peck on the lips as we head off to see the other vendors.

I had completely forgot, but Soren and I are dating. Ok, well no, I didn't forget. Work usually ate up all our time, so it was more like we haven't been acting like a real couple, or even gone on a date, in a long time. It was nice working with Soren and seeing him everyday, but sometimes I wished we could do more things together, just the two of us.

"Karina, check this out!" Bjergsen says, leading me towards the crowd forming at one of the vendors.

"Soren! Soren, wait!" I holler as my sight begins to get blurry. Unable to hear me through all the chatter, Soren continues on, squeezing between the crowd, trying to get a better look and losing my hand in the process.

Dammit!

Everything goes dark and all I can do is stand still, listening to the people who pass. Trying to remember my surroundings, I head to the left to get out of the way and wait until my sight comes back. Stretching my arms out to feel if I'm going in the right direction, someone bumps into me from behind, knocking me down and causing me to lose my bag in the process.

Dammit again!

I place my hand over my shoulder where my bag should be, but it's not there. Frantically, I begin feeling around the floor for it, afraid someone had taken it. Panic begins to set in and my breathing becomes erratic.

***

"Karina? Oh Karina?" An all too familiar voice calls to me. My body becomes petrified and I'm unable to even speak.

Julia

"Whatcha doing down there?" The she says in a condescending tone. "Awe, are you too scared to move? Now, now, what happened to that arrogant attitude of yours? Too bad, and here I thought you were supposed to be the tough one."

I feel immense pressure on my chest and struggle to breathe as the wind is being taken away from my lungs. My lungs begin to burn like they are being filled with acid and desperately gasp for air, but the relief never comes.

***

"I'm so sorry!" A deep male voice says. "Miss, are you okay?"

"What?" I ask still frantic and trying to locate the source of the voice. "My, my bag..."

"Oh, this thing?" He asks as I feel around for the man and my bag, but I'm unable to find either.   
"Are you okay, miss?" The voice presses again.

"I'm sorry. Uh, um I can't exactly see, so could you please place my bag in my hands?" My outstretched hands are met with a weight similar to my backpack's and a familiar fabric. "Thanks," I say, still trying to pinpoint where the voice might be, but it's not clear because of the noisy atmosphere.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were blind. Would you like a hand up and over to a less crowded section?"

"Ye- Yes please," I say as I grip the hand placed onto mine and feel a tug onto my feet.

"Here, you can hold onto me," He says, as he places my hand over his bicep and begins to lead me away from the crowd and to a bench. "Have a seat."

"Thanks," I say as I feel a shuffle next to me and assume the mystery voice is sitting next to me. "Sorry, this usually doesn't happen."

"The falling in busy crowds or the searching on the ground for your bag?" He laughs, making me feel embarrassed at the scene I must have caused.

"Actually, both. I'm not actually blind, well, right now I am," I say awkwardly. Hearing no response from the man, I decide to continue elaborating. "I have this condition where I go blind for a bit, then my sight returns. Doctors have given me meds for it, but this is the first time it's happened in a few weeks."

"Oh, that must suck then," he says sympathetically.

"Yea, I guess. It really messes with my work," I huff. Just then I hear the familiar sound of my ringtone and begin digging through my bag. Going based off of muscle memory, I swipe to accept the call, but my phone still buzzes.

"Here, let me help. Um, someone called 'Baby Bjerger-King' is calling you," The voice says as I feel him lean over to my phone and slide it open.

"Hello?"

"Karina! Where are you!" Soren's voice calls from the other end.

"Um, I had another black out, then I lost you in the crowd," I say timidly, still a little shaken from earlier.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," I hear him say, guilt evident in his tone. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm...Um..." I say, not really sure how to describe where I am. "Um do you think you could tell my boyfriend where I am?"

"No problem," the voice says as I feel my phone being lifted from my hands, "Hi, your girlfriend is at the north end of the market and we are sitting on the bench in front of the Christmas store. Okay, we'll wait for you here." My phone is handed back to me and I slip it back into my bag.

"He's coming right now," The man informs me. "You know, your boyfriend isn't a very good boyfriend."

"Hm? Why do you say that?" I question, getting a bit defensive.

"He literally just lost you. I mean, I'm not relationship expert, but if you were my sometimes blind blind girlfriend, I would make sure you didn't get lost in a huge crowd, let alone wait this long to call you to see where you are." He says. Before I can say anything, I hear him stand up and a warming voice.

"Oh thank god, Karina there you are." I hear Soren as I'm pulled up from the bench and into a warm hug. "Hey man, thanks for helping her out."

"No problem, hopefully I'll see you around," the voice says before fading into the distance and I'm left with Soren.

"So, you ready to continue looking around the market?" Soren asks, forgetting that I can't look around at the moment.

"Can we just go home?" I ask quietly.

"Sure. Whatever you want," He says as grips my hand tighter this time, ensuring we wouldn't get separated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guyssss SOS Im crying so hard right now!
> 
> I just finished drafting up a super feelsy chapter and I can't stop crying! Everytime I go back to re-read what I just typed, I start tearing up again.
> 
> GAHHHH my emotions can't handle this!!!
> 
> Good night fam!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	29. Choices

Fries or onion rings?

School or work?

A house or apartment?

These are all choices we make in the course of a day, but then there comes this one choice that will ultimately shape the rest of your entire life. Whether you're ready to make the decision or not, its here. So, what will you choose?

Leave or stay?

***

"And that's it everyone! TSM is now your NA LCS champions for another split!" Phreak announces as the enemy nexus explodes and the crowd goes wild after a hard 45 minute match.

We all stand up from our seats and get into a group hug. "TSM, TSM, TSM," we chant breaking apart and being joined by Andy and Parth on stage. We head towards the front of the stage, and I'm just eyeing this split's trophy, which sits upon a black pedestal.

"Go for it," Bjergsen tells me as he notices my excitement and gives me a nudge forward. I look at the other 3 members of the team and they each give me a nod before I take the prize into my hands and hoist it high for everyone to see. The crowd roars and the rest of the team put a hand on the coveted prize before putting it down.

Like last time, there were a couple interviews on stage, before interviewing the champions. The rest of the team was brought up to the castor's desk while I was told to stay on stage.

***

"What?" What do you mean?" Soren asks, jutting up from his seat.

"Soren, I have to do this," I tell him.

"Why can't you just get them to send it over?"

"Because that's not how it works," I repeat, just like I've been repeating for the last 5 minutes. "I need to do this."

"So that's it? I have no say in your decision?" He yells angrily, making me reconsider for a split second.

"NO! You really have no say in this kind of decision." I yell back.

***

"Everybody, please join me in welcoming the star ADC of this split's winning team and MVP of the split, Syntax!" Phreak announces as the crowd chants the signature TSM chant. "Okay, so first I have to start by saying that not only did you win back to back splits while you were a rookie, but how did it feel to go a perfect 18-0 for the split?"

"Haha, well, I honestly didn't think we could do it. I remember way back watching Fnatic getting a flawless split and absolutely dominating that year, but I feel like we didn't have a flawless split in any capacity. Everyone one the team has a lot more room to improve and get better so that we can preform well at Worlds. And I guess I can now join Vincent in part of the two-time rookie championship club," I laugh, giving Biofrost a wave up at the castor's desk.

"So, you are on one of the most dominant teams in NA. You are also teammates and dating the most famous player in NA, who has over a million Twitter followers too. So, how does it feel to win MVP over him and your other teammates?"

"Okay, first I'll say the humble thing. My teammates and coaching staff are the ones who helped excel here since I was purely a solo queue player, so the MVP award is really a result of all our hard work." I say.

"But if you really want to know how it feels, it's absolutely amazing. I would think both Hauntzer and Bjerg were big contenders for MVP, so it's going to be fun tossing salt over towards Hauntzer because this is the second time he was in consideration for MVP and he was beat last time by Bjerg and this time by me," I laugh, looking up at the boys and promptly being flipped off by Hauntzer. "As for Bjerg, he bet me I couldn't win MVP, so now he has to do a 24 hour stream for charity with me and wear a different cosplay outfit every 3 hours." The crowd goes wild upon hearing the result of our bet and I see Bjerg burry his face in Svenskeren's shoulder.

The interview with Phreak ends and I am quickly ushered upstairs to do the other interview. We each answer a question and then the final question is left to me.

"So, Syntax, I hear you have something to say to the fans."

"Aha, yea I kind of do. Now, I know you all have heard rumors about me recently, and just to clear the air, um, I'm here to officially say that they are true. Despite having 2 amazing splits with my equally amazing team, I'm sad to tell everyone that after today, I'm officially retiring." I pause for a moment as the silence washes over the crowd and my eyes begin to water.

***

Why?" He asks, voice cracking slightly as he fights back his own tears. "Is it because of me?"

"What? God no!" I say, as he promptly turns his back to me. Laying my hand on his back, I can feel his breathing turn erratic and my heart shatters knowing that I'm the one making him like this. "I just need to get better and this is the only way. If there was any other option where I could stay, I would take it in a heartbeat," I confess, tears streaking down my face and falling onto the carpet. "Soren I- I- really don't know what to do."

Soren slowly turns around, "I'm coming with you then," he says stubbornly.

***

"I feel like I owe it to all of you to be honest. I have been having health problems during this whole split and I was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition where my body attacks the cells in my eyes, which means sometimes I can't see and it usually results in total blindness. Over the course of the split, my condition has gotten worse." I swallow hard before beginning again. "Its not fair to you, the fans, or to my teammates to have me playing when I will probably be a huge liability. I feel like I still have more to do here, both in NA and internationally, and I really wanted to go to Worlds and make everyone in NA proud. But unfortunately, that dream has been ripped away from me, and I'm so sorry to my teammates and fans for letting them down, a- and," my words get stuck in my throat as the tears continue to stream down my face.

I feel a hand grab onto mine and see Soren smiling at me. I look to my left and see the rest of the team looking back at me, all smiling, like my decision was okay. Like my decision was the right decision

***

"No, you're not," I tell him firmly. "You have so much left undone here. I can't ask you to leave your life an-"

"But you are my life," he says quietly as he pulls me in for a tight hug. "You are part of my life and I'm part of yours. I know you have to go, but I still don't want you to leave."

***

"I want to thank everyone for has had a hand in getting me to where I am today. Without the support of my friends and you amazing fans, there would be no way I would be standing here right now." I smile, looking down at my feet. "I especially want to thank Soren, for being such an amazing teammate and mentor, but an even better boyfriend. I'm so happy we found each other again after so many years apart, and really, just thank you." Putting down the mic, I give Soren a hug, wiping my teary face on his jersey as he gives me a quick kiss, which earns us a very audible "Aww," from the audience and casters.

***

"Soren," I sigh as my heart aches even more now. "Soren, It's going to be okay. We are going to be apart for a few months, but hat's okay. It's going to be okay because from the first moment I met you, I knew I liked you and that fondness, quickly turned into love. When you left 4 years ago, my love for you never wavered, and I thought I would never get the chance to tell you how I really felt. Now, I know for sure, that I love you, Soren Bjerg, and that you love me, so when I come back, neither of those two things are going to change."

"I love you too Karina."

***

"Now, Karina, I believe there is a special surprise waiting for you on stage," Dash says pointing towards the stage we just played on.

Unbeknownst to me, many of the players from this NA LCS split and from splits previous, start appearing on stage. They are all smiling and waving for me to come down to them.

"Can we go?" I ask Dash, who simply raises an eyebrow and pans his palm out. I take that queue to head down to the stage with the team.

As soon as I arrive on stage, I am greeted by many familiar faces like Keane, Xmithie, Wild Turtle, and eve Dyrus.

"What are you guys all doing here?" I ask Hai, who just nods his head to the left.

"Ahem," Jensen's voice rings throughout the stadium. The sea of people part and Jensen makes his way to me with Sneaky next to him, holding a large bouquet of flowers. "Karina, we all flew out here today to see you play and I think I can speak for all of the players standing here, when I say you are such an amazing player, but above all, you're an amazing person.

"Kind, selfless, and compassionate are words that don't even begin to describe you," Froggen says, appearing next to Jensen.

"You are also funny, smart, and too troll for your own good," Meteos chimes in from behind me.

"Not only are you a super doomsday planner, you are also kind of a mom," Biofrost says, grinning from ear to ear, which was nice watching the change from a shy boy to someone who is confident.

"But above all," Hauntzer begins, stepping forward as Soren intertwines my fingers with his. "You are someone who, despite all the challenges that come at you, will always do their best and be great at whatever comes your way next.

"From everyone on this stage, in this arena, and watching back at home, we wish you the best of luck with the rest of your journey." Andy finishes.

***

"I guess this is goodbye, then." I say, suitcase in hand and backpack on my back.

"Nope" Soren says.

"No?" I question, worried he still had the idea in his head.

"No," he repeats, "It's not goodbye. Its I'll see you later." His expression changes from serious to genuine in an instant and warms my heart as I smile back.

"Fine, It's I'll see you soon, Soren."

"See you soon, Karina." He says before pulling me in for one hug and gives me a soft, drawn out kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so now that my final is on Friday and I'm almost done with school, I decided to do like a 12 days of Christmas thing!
> 
> So everyday until Christmas, I will release 1 chapter and hopefully close out this series!
> 
> Stay tuned friends, some juicy stuff happens!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	30. Time Apart

*6 months later*

"God dammit! You do you have be so mean," I whine as my hat is snatched off my head.

"Because it's fun bullying you," he teases.

"Rasmus, stop being an asshole," Rekkles says as he swings his arm around Amelia, his girlfriend's shoulder.

"Yea, don't be mean to Karina, or else a certain someone is going to come kick your ass," She laughs.

"Please, Bjergsen couldn't kick a kickball if he tried. Also, does anyone else find it weird Karina never takes Bjergsen's jacket off?" Caps scoffs.

"Bish please, he would kick your balls in instead," I sass back as the rest of Fnatic 'Oooo's at the burn, causing Caps to turn red with embarrassment. "Also, I love this jacket, so I could care less what you think, Mr Creepy Caps."

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear!" Amelia says, handing me my phone.

"Hello?" A lightly accented voice says from the other end.

"Hey, babe. What's up?"

"Not much, I was on a break and wondering how you were doing."

"Awe you calling to check up on me again?" I tease, "I'm doing fine. Work is alright and I haven't run into anything recently, so that's a plus."

"Haha, at least you're looking on the bright side."

"Well, its not like I can really look at anything else nowadays," I joke. "Soren?"

"Hmm? Sorry, I just don't like hearing you talk like that," he says, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Yea, I guess that was a little negative," I admit. "So, the doctors told me they have a new surgery they want me to try so that I can regain some sight."

"Surgery?" Soren shouts. "How dangerous is it? Who's performing it? When is it? When should I get a flight to Germany?" He rambles on as I hold my phone away from my ear as he continues.

"You done?" I ask and all I hear on the other end is an exasperated sigh. "Of course, it's dangerous because it's a pretty new procedure, but they said its either going either going to work or do no harm, so I wanted to get you opinion before I give them an answer."

"Hmmm," Soren mumbles as he mulls over the idea. "It's really your choice in what you're comfortable with, but I think you should do it. Like you said it will either do no harm or something good. Do you want me there this time?"

"Umm, I don't know when it's going to be, so-"

"So you only want me there if its during a break because you don't want me to give up work to come, I know, I know," Soren says boringly, causing me to giggle at how well he knows my responses.

"You know me too well, babe."

"Haha, yep. Just make sure to call me when you get a date this time," Soren warns.

"Yes mom," I laugh. "Anyways, I gotta go, talk to you later."

"Bye, love you."

"Bye, love you," Caps mocks as soon as I hang up.

"Boy, you really want someone kicking you in the balls today, don't you," I raise my fists and playfully threaten him.

***

"So your procedure is today?" Santorin asks cautiously.

"Lucas, you can call it surgery, you know." I laugh as Amelia walks in with Rekkles.

"Lucas, you're not bothering her before her big surgery, are you?" Amelia teases.

"Ppft, no," he says defensively as I give him a playful slap on the back. "Anyways, does Soren know its today?"

"Yea, I told him when I initially got the date, but they are about to go into spring split finals, so he couldn't come and I couldn't postpone this until after," I say, giving them a half smile, but I know they can see through it.

"Are you nervous?" Amelia asks with a hint of worry in her own voice.

"No, I think I'm alright," I sigh.

Truth be told, I'm scared out of my mind and all I want is to see Soren right now. Its been over 6 months since I left LA to come to Germany for treatment.

They boys went on to play at Worlds and I hopelessly watched them fail to get out of group stages for the 3rd year in a row. Though they were good at trying to hide their disdain for their play, I could tell they were absolutely crushed.

All-Stars however, went well. Surprisingly I had been chosen over DoubleLift and Sneaky as NA's ADC representative, but I couldn't go so DoubleLift, with the second highest number of votes attended instead. This year All-Stars was held in NA, so all of Team Ice went over just to get smashed by Team Fire another year.

Christmas had come and gone, but it wasn't as bad as I though it would be. Soren wasn't able to go home during the holidays. Instead, he had sent his family over gifts. I hadn't realized it until Soren sent over a Christmas/1 year together gift, that we started dating on Christmas of last year. 

Luckily, my time in Germany hasn't been so bad. Yes, I missed Soren, but I also made new friends and reconnected with some old EU friends, some of which were still pro players.

"Karina, It's time for you to go to pre-op." A nurse asks as she comes into my room, snapping me out of my daydreaming. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yep, better sooner than later I guess. Oh and Martin? By the time I'm done, you better have shaved because that chin hair doesn't suit you."

"WHAT?" He yells flustered, as I'm wheeled away.

***

"How are you doing?"

"Good."

"Can you give me an answer that is more than a 1 word?" He says, sounding frustrated.

"Fine, my whole-body aches and all I want to do is rip my eyeballs out. I'm in so much pain they had to put me back on a morphine drip," I hiss frustratingly.

The conversation goes dead for a moment and only the quiet sound of breathing could be heard.

"Sorry, I haven't been getting a lot of sleep either." I sigh, rubbing my temples to try to alleviate my headache.

"I'm sorry too. Work has been insane and I've been crazy missing you," Soren sighs as he takes his glasses off and sets them down on the desk. "You know, its going to be a year and a half soon.

"I miss you too," I say earnestly, looking into Soren's tired eyes through my monitor. "Yea, I cant believe how much has changed since then, but anyways, how have you been doing?"

"Ugh, once again we got smashed by the international teams at MSI," Soren groans, laying his head on his arms folded on the table.

"At least you beat EU," I say, trying to cheer him up a bit.

"Hey, you're there right now. You better not let EU fans hear that," he teases, seeming to be in a better mood. "But yea, we are off to finals in a few days and playing against CLG this time, so that'll be fun, especially for Peter."

"Oh right, how are the rest of the guys doing?"

"Kevin's always off with Luna since she got an apartment nearby, Dennis is still a gym rat and has no grill, Peter and Bonnie are still hanging out, and Vincent... Um, I'm actually not sure." Soren ponders the thought for a moment. "Hey Vincent! You got a girlfriend yet?"

"Yea, why?" He shouts back from another room.

"WAIT WHAT? He's got a girlfriend?" I shout, surprised that such a nice, but insanely shy guy like him has a girlfriend. "Soren, tell him to give me a name and screen name so I can stalk."

"He says no way, since none of us have met her yet," Soren responds.

"Bruh, tell him that I'm in pain and it'll distract me. Guilt the boy, it always works."

"Haha, he says fine, but you can't tell anyone else."

"YES! Love you Vinny!" I cheer as I receive a text from him.

"Hey, what about me?" Soren says, faking being hurt.

"Love you too, you dork."

***

"Bjergsen, can I get your opinion on the rumors surrounding you and your long-time childhood friend Karina? What is the situation between the two of you and has she affected your play at all?"

Ugh, I hate these questions. Every other question is about is about me and Karina, whether its if we've broken up, why she's been in Germany for so long, and even if I believe in having a girlfriend prevented me from beating the Koreans at MSI. Frankly, all these questions are just getting on my nerves.

"Okay, I'll say this once, and then I will not answer anymore questions surrounding Karina and I," I sigh before telling the reporters what they really want to hear. "For the record Karina and I have had a long distance relationship since she left for Germany and we are still currently dating. Karina left to have experimental surgery done, so that she has a chance of seeing again one day, and the treatment takes time, so that's why she's been away for so long. Lastly, obviously Karina has had an affect on my performance, but she only motivates me to play better," I pause for a moment to take a breath and not get too emotional. "While I was playing this split, I wanted to play better than I had ever before. I wasn't only playing for myself and the team, I was also playing for Karina, since she really wants to play again, but isn't able to."

"So did you guys feel a change in the team synergy when Karina left and Doublelift filled her spot?" The same reporter asks, but this time Hauntzer was the first to answer.

"I'm sure the rest of the guys, especially Bjerg, can agree that it felt like we had a 6 man roster instead of a 5 man roster this split. Karina would send us all texts either the night before or day of every match wishing us luck and telling us to play well." Hauntzer says, looking over at the rest of us.

There were a couple more questions, then press conference was over and we were free to leave. We all get ready to head back to our warm up room to get our bags before heading back home in an Uber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyooooo So I almost forgot to upload today since my test is tomorrow T.T
> 
> Wish me luck fam!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	31. No Light Without Darkness

Darkness.

Darkness is one of the most calming things in the world, but it is also the most terrifying. Things happen when the world goes dark. It consumes you, engulfing your soul and screwing with it until there's nothing but a twisted shell of a person left.

Darkness is all I've seen for the last 7 months.

***

"Karina, you ready to go yet?" Amelia calls from downstairs.

"Yea, yea, I'm coming down now," I respond, trotting down the staircase and entering the kitchen. "Is that bacon I smell?"

"Yep! Here, have some," She says as I hear a clang on the counter and the sound of a plate sliding towards me. Guessing where the plate could be, I instinctively stick my hand out, catching the plate in the process.

"Wow, you're really getting good at that," She complements, as I take a bite out of a crisp piece of bacon.

"I guess losing my sight has giving me the super power of catching things I can't see. Also, who makes bacon at 3 in the afternoon?" I joke as there is a rapid knocking at the door. I hear Amelia shuffle over and the ring of the front door opening.

"Hey, sorry we're late," Rekkles apologizes.

"Don't worry, Karina and I were just having something to eat." Amelia says as the door rings again as it shuts and I hear multiple pairs of footsteps walking towards me.

"Yo, how you doing Rina Rina?" Santorin asks as he takes a seat next to me.

"You know you don't have to ask me that every time you see me. I'm not a porcelain doll, you know?" I laugh, grabbing another piece of bacon. "Want some?"

"Like Lucas would want bacon, guy is still such a health nut," sOAZ laughs, taking a piece for himself.

"He's just kind of nutty," YellowStar jokes, laughing loudly.

"Should we get going guys?" Rekkles asks as we all agree and head out for the day.

***

"Hahaha," we all laugh, watching Baby Groot throw around his enemies like it was nothing.

Normally, I hated going into town because it was always so crowded and I would just be death gripping someone's shirt or arm the whole time, but this time we only went out for a few hours before we decided to go see Guardians of the Galaxy at the movie theaters. I feel another few shifts in the seats next to me, but I just I close my eyes and continued to listen to the movie.

I hadn't seen a movie in the theaters for over a year, but luckily for me, the theater had an adapted version for people who were hearing or visually impaired, so I was able to sit in with my friends and listen to a described video version.

The movie finally ended and I unplugged my earbuds from the tiny I-Phone sized device.

"Ready to go?" Santorin asks, nudging me with his elbow.

"Yep," I say, standing up and holding onto his arm as he leads me down the stairs and out to the lobby with the rest of the guys.

The smell of freshly popped popcorn hits me the same as it did when I first entered and sent me straight into a euphoric state. There was just something about the buttery and slightly burnt popcorn smell that was just intoxicating.

We were just about to leave, but of course, everyone had to go to the washroom before piling back into the car, so I just waited outside for them.

"Hey cutie," I hear a tenor voice say.

Dear lord, please don't tell me he's talking to me.

"Hey, I'm talking to you," he says, giving me a whistle. "Come over here."

Maybe he's not talking to me... just act cool. Play with your phone or turn away, do something dammit.

I slowly reach into my bag and try to fish something out. "HEY! Girly, I said I'm talking to you," he says aggressively as I feel a tug on my arm and the smell of alcohol and cigarettes attack my senses. "Now, what's a pretty thing like you just waiting around for?"

"My boyfriend," I say trying to sound as confident as possible, despite being utterly terrified.

"Boyfriend?" He chuckles maniacally, "Oh come on. Come back to my place with me and we can have a little fun."

"N-No." I stutter, taking a step back.

Where are you guys? Hurry up please.

"Come on, haven't you ever heard of a cheat day?" He asks. "Besides if you were my girlfriend, I would never let you stand here alone where any old guy could come and pick you up, especially since you are blind."

How does he know?

"Excuse me? I'm not a piece of furniture that you can just pick up," I spit, throwing my hand up to release his grip on my arm, hoping he will see I'm more trouble than I'm worth.

"Haha, I like your sass, girly. Come back to my place for a little fun," he says as I can feel his face get closer to mine and his hand begins to trail up my thigh.

Soren!

"Get off!" I shout, clenching my fist and swinging as hard as I could. My fist quickly makes contact with something hard and footsteps stumbling backwards.

"Ack! You bitch! I don't care if you're blind, you're going to pay for that!" He shouts as I hear footsteps rushing towards me.

Left?

Right?

Which side is it coming from?

My adrenaline begins to flow and over take my motions. I take a moment to listen closer.

Left!

I pull my walking stick out from my bag and hear it unfold and the click of it locking into each joint before swinging it to the left, just like I did with my fist just a moment ago. Wack! My stick makes contact and I hear a thump on the ground, followed by a long groan.

"That's what you get for trying to attack a blind girl, you bastard!" I shout before turning to walk away.

Before I'm even able to take a step, a hand wraps around my ankle and pulls, causing me to lose balance and fall to the floor, loosing my cane in the process.

Soren!

"You're really going to die today, you bitch," I he growls in my ear as he mounts me and begins putting his hands all over me.

Soren!

"No!" I cry, trying to fend him off. Remembering what Luna had taught me, I buck my hips so the man loses balance and tumbles forward, giving me an opportunity to run away. I am able to get a few strides in before my body is grabbed once again

Soren! I'm sorry.

I fight like hell to get out of the hold, swinging my arms left and right, stomping on feet, and going for some nut punches. I make contact, a couple times, but the hold persists.

It's not going to end here!

"KARINA!" I hear a voice shout at me. "Its Lucas, you're okay. Calm down." I struggle for a few more seconds, before taking in what was just said.

"L-Lucas?" I stutter, nearly collapsing in his arms. "T-There was a guy..."

"Yea, I'm here and don't worry about that guy. The guys took care of him and the cops are coming right now. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"Karina, are you okay?" I hear the pattering footsteps of Amelia and Rekkles approach.

"Hm? Yea, I think I'm okay," I mumble, not really sure what to do with myself at this point.

"The paramedics are here. We should get you checked out," Santorin says, helping me up from the ground. Like normal, he nudges me with his elbow and I latch on as he leads the way.

***

"Oh my god, Karina," Soren says with a tinge of guilt in his voice. "I'm so glad you're okay. Honestly, I didn't think you had it in you to be such a fighter."

"Haha, me either. I was surprised myself," I laugh. "I feel bad for Lucas though."

"What did you do to him?'

"Uhhhh," I say, drawing out the sound. "I kinda, sorta, might have hit him a few times..."

"More like multiple times," Santorin says as he knocks on my doorframe. "I was just coming to check up on you."

"Haha, I should be the one asking if you're okay," I say as I fee him take a seat on the bed.

"Oh, what's up Bjeg?" Santorin asks.

"Not much, but I heard my girl beat you up today," he laughs, sounding pretty proud.

"Yea, I'll admit she kind of kicked my ass... Well, more like punched my face, heel stomped my feet, and may or may not have gone for the boys," he ponders.

"Yea, it looks pretty bad."

"Did I really? I'm so sorry," I apologize, placing my hand on his shoulder and giving my most apologetic smile. "Wait, but it was kind of your fault for grabbing me like that."

"Well, yea kinda. I should have just called for you first," Santorin admits, making us all laugh. "Anyways, I'll leave you and your boyfriend to have your time. See you later Bjerg."

"Bye!" Soren says as Santorin shuts my door behind him. "So, I see Lucas has been helping you out."

"Yea, he, Rekkles, and Amelia have been super helpful in this whole thing, which I am so grateful for."

"I'm glad you have people to help you out. It makes me less worried for you, but then again, you proved how capable you are tonight."

"Haha, anyways, I'm super tired tonight, so I'm going to go to bed."

"Okay, I'll see you later then," Soren says as my finger hovers over the end call button.

"Soren," I say slowly, hoping he hasn't taken his headphones off yet.

"Yea?"

"Can you stay on call and talk to me until I sleep?" I ask, feeling slightly embarrassed at such a childish request.

"Sure, whatever you want," he agrees. "What do you want me to talk about?"

"Ummm, I don't know," I say, "Just talk to me about anything, everything, life?"

"Haha, you're so weird."

"I know."

***  
However, it can also change you. Change you into someone with clarity of the world. Instead of being consumed by it, you fight. You need to learn to fight for yourself to escape destitution. Instead of allowing you to fall, run. Run for your life and search for a meaning. Find something to hold onto, and keep it tight as you enter back into the world of reality.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM FREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
> 
> I'm finally done exams and I could care less about my marks at this point.
> 
> So, a little background on this chapter. One of my friends got into a bad situation where she kind of lost the will to fight back. There wasn't an attacker per say, it was more like she lost who she was and didn't really know where to go, what to believe in or how to live properly again. We talked a lot through the whole process and I'm happy to say that she has been able to figure it all out again. She now fights for herself, meaning she fights to keep her identity and survive for the things/people who are important to her.
> 
> Anyways, that was my little explanation for today!
> 
> See you next chapter!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	32. The Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys...uhhhh theres not much to say for this chapter lol
> 
> 9 more days until Christmas!
> 
> See you later!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam

Wifey Bjerg: Yo, when are you guys getting back to the house?

Hot-zer: We are leaving the studio rn

Slim-Skeren: Like 25 minutes?

Bjerger-King: Did you want to Skype with us?

Wifey Bjerg: You know it!

Wifey Bjerg: @BioDaddy YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS SO CUTE

BioDaddy: Karina pls

BioDaddy: Not like this

Double-Double: OMG Vincent! Youre cheating on me????

Double-Double: ffs reported

Hot-zer: SOMEONES GOT A GIRLFRIEND!

Slim-Skeren: Yea, everyone but me...

Wifey Bjerg: Now ya'll done it ☹

Bjerger-King: Pls dad, don't go all Hulk on our asses

***

Andy unlocked the front door and we all flooded into the house, excited to Skype with Karina. By the time I got changed and headed back downstairs, Svenskeren had grabbed one of the extra computers and brought it into the vod review/living room and Andy already started calling Karina.

"Hello?" I hear Karina's voice and see her face pop up on the monitor as I take a seat on the couch.

"KARINA!" We all shout.

"How have you been?" Andy asks.

"Pretty good, but before you guys say anything, I have something to show each of you. Ok, close your eyes and no peeking," Karina instructs and we all follow her order. "HEY! Peter keep those eyeballs shut!"

Well, I guess all of us, except Doublelift.

"Okay, Soren, I'm starting with you. When I count to 2, open your eyes, got it?"

"Yep," I say, excited for what she has instore for us.

"Good. On the count of 3, I want you to open your eyes, 1, 2..." I m about to open my eyes, anticipating the last number.

"Karina?"

"3" I hear her voice whisper into my right ear and feel pressure on my shoulders. My eyes shoot open and I immediately jump up from my seat.

"Karina?" I shout in disbelief, grabbing her hands and locking eyes as I step over the sofa. "What are you- What- How?" I am unable to make a coherent sentence, so instead I pull her in close and giving her a long overdue kiss. "I can't believe you're here," I say after our faces separate and pulling her into a tight hug, not wanting to let go.

"Haha, I see you missed me. I missed you too," she mumbles into my chest and I can feel the calming rhythm of her breathing., "But Soren? You are kinda squeezing me too tight."

"Oh shit, sorry." I apologize, releasing her from my embrace despite wanting to hold her for a week straight.

"Ayyyy Karina you didn't tell us you were coming.," Hauntzer cheers, giving her a hug.

"Yea, are you staying in LA now?" DoubleLift asks, also giving her a hug.

"Mhmm, I'm back to stay," she smiles.

"Yooo, we got someone to cook for us again," Svenskeren says, raising his arm in the air for a high five. Karina doesn't react, causing us to quickly exchange glances as Svenskeren lowers his hand back down.

"So uh, how was Germany?" Hauntzer asks.

"Wait, how did you even get from there to here and then get in the house?" Biofrost questions.

"First off, I'm not an infant, so I know how to book a flight from Germany to LA. Second, I still own this house so I have a set of keys. Third, that brings me to my other surprise; I brought a friend with me. Her name is Amelia. Which reminds me, Amelia you can come out now!" Karina calls down as a petit blonde-haired girl wearing a Fnatic jacket appears at the top of the staircase and makes her way down towards us.

"Hi! I'm Amelia Miller. Nice to finally meet the people Karina has been babbling about for the last 9 months," she laughs bubbly, reminding me much of how Karina was when we first met.

"Amelia and I met while I was in Germany and since she's been helping me with some stuff, she wanted to come back to LA with me," Karina informs the team.

***

KARINA POV

After unpacking, the team, including Amelia head out to a KBBQ restaurant as a celebratory reunion dinner.

"Oooh, so what kind of things do you do?" Svenskeren asks, as he appears to be completely absorbed in their conversation, or should I just say Amelia herself.

"Mostly digital marketing, but I can do a bit of everything," she says sounding pretty confident in her abilities.

"Cool, so have you found work here yet?" Andy asks. "Because, you know, we are always looking for more marketing people."

"Haha, sorry I already have a job helping out Karina." Amelia laughs.

"Wait, what are you doing for Karina?" Bjergsen asks as I reactively nudge Amelia.

"Oh, uh..." She stalls, trying to think of an answer.

"Karina, what are you hiding?" Svenskeren says, nudging me.

"Ah, haha. Wait, Dennis, do that again," I say, trying to confirm something as he nudges me once more. I move my hand across where I think Dennis should be and poke the first thing I come in contact with. "WAIT, HOLY SHIT. Are you jacked?" I exclaim, shocked at the change in physique.

"Haha, yea, I guess you left before I started working out a lot," he says, sounding slightly embarrassed by my reaction.

"Haha, sorry if I'm embarrassing you, but man I wish I could see what you look like now," I laugh trying to imagine Slim-skeren.

The rest of the dinner goes well and I even think the boys like Amelia. I smile at myself, feeling like I've just been reunited with my family

***

Karina POV

"What?" I question as I can feel that Soren is carefully tracking me with his eyes.

"What?" He questions back.

"Why do you keep staring at me?"

"How do you know I'm staring?" Soren questions.

"Bruh, I can literally feel you lasering a hole into my back while I'm putting my clothes back into the drawer," I say obviously as I finish and hop into bed with Soren.

"Haha, was it that obvious," he asks, sounding slightly embarrassed that he was caught. "But, it's nice having you home, you know."

"It's nice being home," I say, giving Soren a small kiss, which quickly becomes more passionate. Despite being apart for 8 months, our bodies quickly reconnect, allowing us to slip into a rhythmic motion. I make a quick shift mounting him, still with our lips connected as his hands hold my back securely as my hands rifle through his soft blonde hair.

After what seems like a timeless period, we finally break apart and are left breathless at the heat that was just emanating off our bodies.

"Ahaha, I really missed doing that," I admit, imagining Soren's goofy smiling face.

"Me too," he says, letting out a huff. "Karina? Can you look at me? Uh, I mean like, can you face me for a second?" I turn my head towards the center and oblige to Soren's wishes. I feel Soren's soft hands being placed on my cheeks as he leans forward, giving me a long, almost reassuring kiss.

"What was that for?" I ask.

"Nothin'," he says casually. "Can't I just kiss my girlfriend?"

"Haha, you can kiss me whenever you want," I laugh.


	33. Memories

The daylight breaks through the window, disrupting my peaceful sleep.

"Ughh," I groan as I stretch my arms and rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Soren sings, giving me a peck on the cheek.

"Morning. What time is it?" I ask

"Uhh, like 10am?" Soren answers, as he shifts in bed. "You, look so different," he says in a soft tone as he brushes some loose strands of hair away from my face.

"Do I?" I question. "I mean, I did change my hair colour. Is it my eyes?"

"No, it's not that. It's something else," he muses. "It's more like something about you that changed, but I'm not sure what it is."

"Oh, when you figure it out, tell me," I say, swinging my legs over the bed and stretching once more before carefully heading towards the bathroom to wash up.

"Are you coming to the studio today?"

"Yep, I got some business to do there while you guys are doing your photos and stuff."

"Business?" he asks, walking into the bathroom after me.

"Yep, but it's a secret so don't bother asking because I can't tell you."

"Wow so mysterious. I guess we should get ready to go then."

***

"KARINA! You're back in NA!" I hear the familiar voice of Jensen call out as my body is wrapped tightly.

"Aweee, Jensen! My other Danish boy!" I cheer, excited to catch up with him.

"Karina! My girl!" I hear another familiar voice call out to me. Be fore I know it, my body is lifted from the air for a brief moment, before being put back down.

"Aphro! Getting some gains, I see," I laugh.

"Wait, holy shit you can see?" He exclaims as the rest of the room falls silent. "What? Did I say something?"

An awkward silence overcomes everyone and its so quiet that I'm not sure if anyone is even in the room anymore. "Nope, I'm still blind af.," I say, hoping that they all didn't leave and aren't giving Aphromoo a whispered lecture.

"Shit, sorry." Aphro apologizes.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I've kinda come to terms with my condition and even if I can't play, I want to make the best out of the shitty situation," I laugh to myself, noticing how far I've come from when I was first diagnosed.

"There's my cheery girl," Soren says, wrapping his arm around my waist and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Eeew, gross you guys," DoubleLift fake gags.

"Yea, that is public indecency," Jensen agrees as he covers Sneaky's eyes with his hand. "Snacky is too young for hentai."

"Same."

"Excuse me, who is the one with a dildo in his room?" I accuse the boys as they sheepishly look away. "Exactly, that's what I though."

The boys each went off to do their own pre-season business, while I headed my own way to take care of some things before we leave for the day.

***

"Off to solo queue for you guys?" I ask, shrugging my jacket off and hanging it up.

"Yep, time to go back to the salt mine," Biofrost says.

"Dude, you always sound like such an old man," DoubleLift says, as I can hear the two walking off with each other.

"I'm going for a quick workout before streaming, so I'll see you guys later," Hauntzer says as his footsteps also disappear into the distance.

"We should also get to duo-ing. Gotta build that synergy up right?" Svenskeneren says, giving Bjergsen a slap on the back and walking off, leaving just the two of us in the foyer.

"I guess I should go," Bjergsen says awkwardly.

"Yea, go practice," I smile. "I have some work to do anyways."

"I'll see you later then," he says, giving me a kiss before joining the rest of the boys in the scrim room. I stand in the foyer for a few seconds. My chest begins to feel heavy as I isten to the sound of champions loading into the rift and the ruckus created when someone makes a wood tier play, which was probably DoubleLift.

I smile to myself and let out a small huff before heading upstairs.

***

"Hm?" I feel a quick tapping on my shoulders and my left earbud being pulled from my head.

"How loud do you have your music?" Soren asks, as I alt tab and pause my YouTube video.

"Uhhh, loud enough to drown out any distractions?" I ask as I hear him let out a slight chuckle.

"You're going to make yourself deaf listening to music that loud."

"Yea, I really shouldn't but I really like the song."

"Who are you listening to?" He asks, as I can feel him lean over my shoulder and look at my computer screen.

"Fit for Rivals and Icon for hire. Their songs are now my new anthem," I laugh as Bjergsen changes the song and "Novocaine" plays through my earbud.

"Well you seem to be in a better mood. Wait, what's this you're working on?"

"No, no! You can't see that," I say, swatting his hand away from my laptop and closing the top of it.

"Whoa, I take that back, you are still as aggressive as ever," he laughs, making me slightly embarrassed at my outburst.

"W-well, you aren't allowed to see that right now. Wait hey, I was never that aggressive," I say defensively. "You just always saw me like that when we were growing up since you were so skinny, you could barely lift your backpack."

"Wow, how BM. I'll show you!" Soren says, as I feel my chair being turned around and my body being lifted and thrown over one shoulder.

"Hey! Soren! What are you doing?" I shout in embarrassment, though slightly concerned he was going to drop me.

"I'm showing you I've been lifting so that these beanpole arms aren't so beanpole-y anymore." He says, still holding onto me as I continued to fidget.

"Soren! Put me down!" I whine, kicking my legs up and down.

"Fine, you asked for it," he says, tossing me onto the bed like a sack of flour before climbing on top.

"Wh- What are y-you doing?" I ask, getting flustered as I feel his hot breath on my neck.

"I just... Want... To do...," He breathes, causing me to inhale sharply and shut my eyes in anticipation. "This..." he says in an abrupt tone as a jolt is sent through my body and I begin to squirm uncontrollably.

"Haha, So-Soren st-st-stop, that tickles," I giggle as my sides are furiously being zapped.

"But it's fun seeing you laugh," Soren says, as he continues.

"Yea, well let's see how you like it," I say, freeing myself to push him over. Instead of finding contact with his shoulder, I make no contact at all and push the air, falling off the bed and onto the floor. "Ow," I groan, rubbing the spot where I landed.

"Whatcha doing down there," Soren teases as I can feel my face turn red.

"I was supposed to do this," I say, getting up and hopping back onto the bed. My hands search for his side and are able to find it with ease as I begin my revenge.

"Ka-Karina!" Soren begins laughing uncontrollably. I continue just like he did until I hear the faint sound of wheezing.

"Oh my god, are you having an asthma attack right now?" I ask, concerned I caused him to have his second attack.

"Nope," he says, grabbing hold of my wrists so I can't tickle him anymore. "Fooled ya!"

"Heyyyy," I whine, leaning my head down to his chest while still straddling him. I listen to the quiet, steady sound of his heart beating while he wraps his arms around my waist and holds me tightly.

We stay like that for a while before finally breaking the silence.

"Hey, Soren?"

"What?"

"Will you do something for me?"

"Depends, what it is."

"Sit up and close your eyes," I instruct. Soren quickly obliges to my command and I can feel him shift beneath me so he's sitting up with his back against the head board.

I stretch my hands out and eventually find the top of his head. I place one hand on each side and slowly run my fingers down his forehead and along his eyebrows before moving down and tracing round his eyes. My fingers thread through his hair as my thumb runs across the bridge of his nose and trace along his cheekbones.

Despite being a very acne covered teen, Soren's skin was surprisingly soft and I guessed he had been working on it since I left. My fingers move down the side of his face, tracing along his jawline, as my thumbs trace around his lips before eventually meeting in the middle at his chin.

"What are you doing?" He laughs as I feel the corners of his mouth go up.

"Remembering," I say absentmindedly, starting from the top and repeating the path from his forehead to chin a couple more times before Soren interrupts again.

"What are you remembering?" He asks, taking my hands away from his face and placing them on his chest.

"You," I say simply. "In case I don't get to see again, I want to make sure I remember what your face looks like so I don't forget."

"Karina," I hear and feel Soren sigh, but I shush him before he can say anything more.

"Just, let me do my thing," I say as he obediently as I trace my fingers across his lips once more. "Okay, I'm done." I say, replacing my fingers with my lips and flopping back down on the bed.

"Haha, you're so weird," Soren laughs, turning on his side and draping his arm over me.

"Yep, but you still love me. Oh, I also still have your jacket."

"Oh right. I heard you wore that all the time in Germany."

"Mmmmmaybe..." I laugh, "I wore it to sleep a lot. You know, after a while, it didn't even smell like you anymore, but for some reason I just kept wearing it. It was like you were there with me, even though you were still here in LA. It was comforting in the strangest way," I ponder. "Soren?"

Instead of a response, I hear him quietly snoring and feel the calm rising and falling his breathing.

"Haha, I guess you're really tired," I laugh, nuzzling myself into the crook under his arm and place my hand over his stomach.

Mint, evergreen trees, and fresh linen.

That's what he smelled like. That's what he's always smelled like, and I loved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***
> 
> Hey guys, so just to let you all know, this story is probably coming to an end soon. I still have a few things to wrap up so I'm guessing it'll be finished around 40 chapters or so...
> 
> Anyways, have a good week and Christmas is in 8 days!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	34. Surprise!

"Guys! We're off to the venue!" I call from the front door.

"Okay, we'll meet you there!" They call back form their scrim room.

"You guys better not be late, or else you're dead to me!"

"Yea, us too!" Luna and Amelia also yell.

"Yes, we promise!" They respond as the 3 of head out and I lock the door behind us.

"So, Karina, do the boys know what's going on today?" Luna asks, we hop into the back of the limousine.

"Nope," I respond, "although, I did give Soren a big hint, whether he can figure it out or not is his problem."

***

Bjergsen POV

"Tell me."

"No.

"Please."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because it's a secret." Karina says stubbornly as I try my best to get the secret out of her.

"Karinaaaaa," I whine like a 5 year old, hoping she will tell me.

"Soreeeeeeeeeeen," she mimics back, giving me a mischievous smile.

"Just tell me, I'm your boyfriend, you know," I say, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her onto my lap.

"You can't play the boyfriend card, that's not fair," she says, giving me a kiss to try and shut me up.

"Mhmm, and you can't use those to seduce me into forgetting about it," I say, putting my finger on her bottom lip as she instantly gives it a small bite. "Hey!"

"Haha, that's what you get for putting your finger there when I haven't been fed yet," she sasses back, grabbing a hold of my finger and placing a light kiss on the bite mark.

"How about a hint then?" I ask, pulling her hair away from her face and leaving a trail of kisses down her neck.

"Mmm, Soren," she groans, biting her lip as I move along her collarbone and her hands begin to rifle through my hair. "Y-You, can't do that."

"I can't? But this is what a boyfriend does." I say, trailing back up and along her jawbone so our lips are just millimeters apart. I can feel her light breathing on my skin. "Just, tell me," I whisper lightly into her ear.

"S-Soren," she stutters.

Ha! I'm going to finally find out!

"Mhm?"

"Lean in closer," she pleads. I listen to her plea and lean my ear closer as she whispers, "H-how about, No?"

"No?" I repeat.

"Nope." Karina says in a completely normal tone, as if none of what I just did had any effect on her.

"Ughhh! Karina!" I whine, thinking I was getting close to having her spill the beans.

'Haha, you know I keeps secrets really well, right?" She asks rhetorically as she gets up off my lap. "You know, even though I'm a retired player, doesn't mean that's going to keep me off the stage, right?" she says, placing a hand on my chest, forcing me to lean backwards in the seat.

"Wh-what?" I ask, confused at what she just said.

"That's all you're getting from me," she says, grabbing her bag and giving me a kiss goodbye.

"Wait! What does that mean!" I holler back at her, but she's already downstairs with Amelia and Luna.

***

"Wait! That was all she gave you?" Doublelift asks, as he puts on his suit jacket.

"Hey, at least its better than what Kevin got out of Luna," I complain as I tighten my tie and flip my collar back down.

"Yea, 'Luna likes making cookies'," Biofrost teases while air quoting.

"Hey man, now you know she likes making cookies," Hauntzer defends while he lit rolls his dress pants. "And hey, I did better than Dennis too."

"Bro, Amelia isn't even my girlfriend so you can't say shit," Svenskeren defends as he steps into the washroom. "She also keeps saying its TBA."

"Wow, very helpful," DoubleLift says sarcastically.

"and you're dateless Dennis," Hauntzer shoots back.

"Wow Kevin, so BM. You're lucky you're not banned yet." Doublelift says.

"Yea, so BM. Dennis is going to find a girlfriend soon, you know," I defend my fellow Dane against the American.

"God dammit!" Doublelift shouts in frustration because he can't get his tie done properly. "Why do we even have to wear this in the first place?"

"Because it's a gala event you dip shit," I respond while I roll my suit jacket with the lint roller.

"Plus the girls would actually murder us if we weren't there," Biofrost reminds us. "Karina still scares me the most, you know."

"Oh right, and we get to see the girl Vincent has been cheating on me with, for the first time too," DoubleLift reminds us.

"Guys, please don't make such a big deal." Biofrost begs.

"I'm still calling you Biodaddy," Hauntzer jokes, which actually might not be a joke after all.

"I kinda like wearing suits though," Svenskeren chimes in as he steps out of the washroom fully dressed

"Dennis, my man. You're looking sharp," I complement as I wrap my arm around his shoulder and pat his chest endearingly. "Bro, let me lint roll you."

"Thanks, Bjerg," Svenskeren says.

***

KARINA POV

"So, Karina, is there anything else you need us to do for you?" The tech guy asks as the hair stylist begins to curl my hair.

"No, I think I'm good. As long as I have my walking stick so that I know where I'm going, I'll be fine." I tell him as the hair stylist yanks a little too hard. "Ow."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologizes.

"You sure?" The guy asks again.

"Yes, yes, I'm more than capable of getting up there on time," I assure him as I hear him mumble something before running off.

***

Bjergsen POV

"Oh man, we're late," I say, looking at my watch which says 5:15pm.

"Dude, it's only 15 minutes, she won't even notice we weren't here on time," DoubleLift says.

"No, she's definitely going to notice," Hauntzer chimes in as he fixes his suit once more before we head inside.

"Whoa," Is what escapes everyone's mouth as we enter through the grand glass double doors and into a wide open area that has over 300 people already inside, mingling with each other. A grand 3 tier chandelier hangs from the center of the room and the large white and tan colour pillars allow for a feeling of openness, but also of welcoming and warmth. There are tables scattered all around the room, each with 10 sets of fine dining equipment and a beautiful gold and white flower centerpiece. My eyes look all over the place, but fixate on the gorgeous figure standing on top of the two tier staircase, which splits half way and winds around the flowing waterfall wall.

"She looks so hot," Hauntzer whispers as the lights begin to dim.

"Dude, you have a girlfriend," DoubleLift says, slapping Hauntzer on the chest.

"What? I'm just giving her a compliment," Hauntzer defends.

"Yea, but you still can't say she's hot," Biofrost agrees.

"Yea, but I can," Svenskeren says, still staring. "Bjerg, your girlfriend is really hot right now."

"Yea, I know," I say, enchanted by her brown curls that are swept over one shoulder, showcasing her very prominent collar bone and sparkling earrings. She gracefully glides down the first set of stairs in a floor length gown that has a plunging neckline to accentuate her gold heart necklace. The dress clings tight to her waist, before loosely flaring out with a slit cut up the side to show her never ending legs.

***

KARINA POV

Hair? Check.

Make-up? Check.

Clothes? Obviously a check.

I let out a deep breath to shake all the gitters out of my body. Somehow, I'm more nervous to go on stage, then I was for my very first match, but then again, I'm going on for a different reason this time. I wipe my palms on my dress and adjust my hair one last time before parting the velvet curtains and stepping into the spotlight.

"Welcome everyone," I say, facing the crowd and imagining all the familiar faces I would see. "I would like to start of by saying thank you to everyone who came to see the reveal of the secret I've been keeping for the last year or so. So everyone knows me as Karina 'Syntax' Bjerg, but many of you don't actually know me as Karina Bjerg, or even Karina Tokishiro."

"From a young age, I loved playing video games; Luigi's Mansion, to Harvest Moon, to Call of Duty, I loved them all. I didn't know what 'Esports' was at that time, but I still dreamed of doing something in the gaming industry. Fast forward a few years, and things weren't the best, actually they were terrible. My parents had both passed away, school wasn't going well, and I had lost my love for gaming. I needed to get away, so I moved here to LA, which is where I reconnected with people who helped me fulfil my dream." I smile remembering the exact moment the boys walked into my house for the first time.

"Ahem, anyways I really should get to the point," I laugh, still trying to shake the gitters out. "It wasn't until that dream was stripped from me again, that I realized my true purpose. Over the last year, I've been working with companies, like Riot Games, to create an amazing team of people from around the world so that my vision could become a reality. Now, ladies and gentlemen, whether you knew it or not, you are all standing in my dream. I present you The Tokishiro Bjerg Academy, or TBA for short," I announce, hearing the crowd ooo as the lights flicker on and the chandelier is lit for the very first time.

"This is the first state of the art academy is designed to provide an all-inclusive training facility for the top gaming teams in North America. We are fitted with over 15 secluded rooms for all types of competitive gaming that is perfect for team practicing and VOD review. We have gymnasiums, workout rooms, content rooms, recovery rooms, and even places to sleep if you just need a break, and I am proud to say that we have it all in the TBA academy!"

***

Bjergsen POV

"But, that's not really why I invited you all here. I have one more trick up my sleeve for tonight, and I think you are all going to love it. I'll be honest, I've been keeping a really big secret from everyone. Well, it's more like 30 big secrets," Karina says, giving us a mysterious smile. Since all the NA LCS teams require to have an academy team, and that just so happens to be in our name, I figured it would be suited that The Tokishiro Bjerg Academy was an actual academy. So, without further adieu, present you the top 30 prospects from around the world." Right on queue, the balcony side doors open up and 30 very new faces walk out and flank Karina on each side. "Each of these players have been recognised for their talents in solo queue and some, even being called the next Faker or Bjergsen, but they aren't quite ready for their shot at stardom. We have already evaluated and assigned each player to a team, and during the regular Summer split, these players will be practicing and playing against each other, just like they would be doing as pros. However, at the end of the season, a few select players will be drafted to pro teams and begin their journey as an official NA LCS pro. Now, enough with the business talk, I would like everybody raise your glass and toast to an amazing future together," Karina says, smiling brightly as she takes a sip of champagne.

"Now let's party!" She hollers as the crowd cheers, beginning to disperse.

***

"Karina, over here!" DoubleLift calls as she makes her way towards us

"Peter! Boys! I'm glad you all came," she coos.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world babe," I tell her as I give her a peck and a hug. "Karina, you look amazing by the way."

"Yea, Soren here had his tongue hanging out of his head the whole time you were talking," Hauntzer laughs, patting me on the back and luckily Karina isn't able to see me turn red.

"N-No," I try to defend, which obviously still made me sound embarrassed.

"Haha, don't worry, I know I look good right now, but I wish I could see how sharp you all look, even though you all were late," she says, giving me a pat on the chest.

"Aha, sorry," We all say in unison.

"Karina! Guys!" We turn to see the squealing faces of Luna, Amelia, and a petit Asian girl running towards us.

"Girls, I'm so glad you're here!" Karina says, giving each of them a hug before they break off and greet their respective boyfriend.

"Is this the legendary Emily we've literally heard nothing about from Vincent?" DoubleLift yells, creating a scene and making Vincent and Emily turn red.

"Oh wait! Dennis, I have someone you have to meet," Karina shouts and run off into the distance finding a blonde-haired girl and tugging her towards us. "Boys, Dennis, this is Crystal. She is going to be working at the academy as our designer and manager of HR," Karina introduces as we all watch Dennis' eyes widen.

"Crystal!" He shouts, seeming to already know her

"Haha hi Dennis," she giggles, giving him a warm smile and hug. "How have you been doing?"

"Ppst!" I hear Karina whisper to me. "Come with me."

"What is it?" I ask as she bows her head to the guys and tugs me away from them.

"Well," she begins as she wraps her arm aroundmine, "As my boyfriend, you kinda have to meet the investors and sponsors, plusI also just want to show you off." We both laugh as we approach a familiar group of faces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't upload sooner. I had a dam good game as Cho'gath just now, but my team was super uncooperative and just wanted to 1v5 the enemy, though I was the only one who could actually do that and get a kill XD. So we lost... T.T
> 
> Anyways, hope you like the chapter!
> 
> 7 days until Christmas!


	35. That Red Dress

Bjergsen's POV

"Karina! Bjerg!" The familiar face of HotshotGG cheers, giving Karina a hug.

"George," she says very professionally. "I hope you guys are all enjoying yourselves."

"What are you guys doing here?" I question as it seems almost everyone from CLG is here.

"Oh, we were the tester team for the Academy," Aphromoo informs me, giving me a bro hug.

"Wait, you guys already knew about all of this?" I stupidly ask. "Wow, why wasn't TSM the tester team?" I ask Karina in a fake hurt tone.

"Babe, its purely business," Karina sasses back. "Besides, CLG has a bigger variety of gamers and needs than TSM does and they have experience with similar facilities, so they seemed like an obvious choice. Also, Huhi is my favourite mid laner.

"Wow! I'm leaving you now," I joke. Karina wasn't wrong, but it still felt weird that other people knew about her project well before I did.

"Oh, Karina! The investors would all like to meet you," Crystal says as she walks towards us, arms locked with Svenskeren.

"Something about the green room?" Svenskeren says in a questioning tone.

"Haha, I see you Dennis are hitting it off," she laughs as Crystal points us in the right direction.

"So, do those two know each other?" I ask as we make our way to the investors.

"You don't know?" she asks as I shake my head, forgetting that she can't see. "Crystal is originally a big computer nerd, so I think she was hired to do some tech stuff for LCS and Worlds. I think they met then, or something. I just hired her to run our tech section of the company."

"Oh, that's nice. Dennis finally gets a girl," I joke.

"Hey, we aren't objects, you know," Karina laughs just as I open the door to the investor's room.

"Why if it isn't the girl of the hour," an older man with a British accent, greying hair, and black suit says as he gives her a hug.

"Richard, I'm so glad you came," she says, returning the hug, which lasts just a little too long. "I would formally like to thank you for all your support over the last year and for your continued support in the years to come. I would also like to introduce my boyfriend So-"

"Soren Bjerg, I've read a lot about you," the man says, eyeing me weirdly while he shakes my hand. "Karina talks a lot about you begin the best player in North America."

"Well, I don't know about the best, but I am pretty good in my position," I respond, unable to shake the creepy feeling. Luckily, Karina quickly whisks us away and towards another set of investors.

***

KARINA POV

Soren and I quickly chat with all the investors who helped me create the academy and they soon file out of the room, so we are left alone for the first time that night.

"Soooo," he says, drawing out the O sound.

"Soooo," I mimic, leaning on the table.

"So, how did you manage to pull all of this off?" Soren question, still amazed at everything she has been able to accomplish.

"Haha, a lot of hard work?" I joke, "I guess I felt like I still had a calling in Esports. Turns out it was shaping new players, not being a player myself."

"It's still really fucking amazing," he complement as I give him a smug kiss in return. "But, you have to do something for me in return for keeping such a big secret from me for so long."

"Mhmmm, fine. What would you like?"

"I want to pick the first thing you see after your surgery in a few weeks," he says quickly, making me think he has thought about this before.

"Ummm, as long as it's nothing gross like poop or Peter's face, because I will actually break up with you," I stipulate.

"I would never," Soren says in a fake offended tone. "Plus, you love me too much to break up with me."

"Haha, you're not wrong," I admit as we lock lips again, but this time it turns more passionate. Our connection becomes more rhythmic and each of us is itching for more of the other.

"I wish you could see how hot you look tonight." Soren hums as I can feel him standing close.

"I wish I could see how hot you look right now," I say, running my hand down his lapel and tugging him in for a kiss.

"Mhm, but I really like your dress," Soren whispers softly in my ear.

"Mmmm," I groan as he begins kissing along my jawline and I wrap my arms around his neck and gently stroke the back of his hair.

"You okay there?" He chuckles rhetorically between kisses.

"Mmmm, yea. But we can't do this here, I'm supposed to be the host of this party."

"Yea, but I'm just stealing you away for a little while. Besides, wouldn't you much rather do this?" Soren says placing finger underneath my chin and running his thumb over my bottom lip. He tilts my head up slightly for a drawn-out kiss and pulls back suddenly, leaving me wanting more.

"Aha, no fair, you can't tease me like that. What if someone walks in on us," I complain, biting my bottom lip and thinking about all the things we could be doing right now if the door was lockable.

"That just adds to the kinky excitement, and you can't bite your lip like that. You know it's my weakness," he laughs warmly into my other ear as he dives into the side of my neck and I can hear the quiet noise every time he leaves his mark. "Nobody is going to see us anyways."

"Hey, no hickies," I groan, separating him from my neck. I lie down on the table we are leaning against, tugging Soren down with me as I wrap my legs around his waist. I can feel the hot breathing of the Dane before we connect once more. The mood takes a sudden turn as Soren snakes one hand underneath my back and pushes me closer to him so there is literally no space between us.

"Haha, I bet I know what you're thinking about right now," Soren says seductively as his other hand makes its way to the side of my thigh and squeezes every once in a while, as it begins to travel upwards.

"Soren," I let the breathless words leave my mouth, as I am consumed by thoughts that were not appropriate for public.

"Hey Karina, peop- Oh SHIT!" The frazzled voice of Crystal echoes throughout the room as we freeze and she sees me lying down on the table and Soren on top. "S-Sorry, I- I'll come back l-later," she stutters as the doors close and the frantic sound of heels clicking on the tile fade away.

"Ummm..Ah, ha, hahahaha," we both laugh hysterically, still in the same position.

"I- I can't believe someone actually walked in on us," Soren laughs uncontrollably.

"Soreeeeen," I whine, burying my face in my hands. "You said nobody is going to see us. I'm so embarrassed."

"Haha, don't worry. It's not like we were naked or anything," he continues to laugh as he helps me off the table and I begin straightening out my dress.

"But still, Crystal walked in," I pout, "Plus we were kinda in the moment." I say, grabbing Soren by the tie and stealing one last kiss before we head back out to the party.

***

"Heyyyy, there they are! Did you guys make any babies back there?" DoubleLift shouts, sounding a little drunk, as Soren and I instantly turn red. "I hope you two at least used protect-" Before DoubleLift was able to finish that sentence, Biofrost lunges to slap his hand over DoubleLift's mouth to shut him up.

"Ahaha, hey guys," Soren says awkwardly as they guys snicker at us.

"Yea, sorry Crystal, I didn't- We didn't mean for you to see us like that," I apologize.

"I didn't see anything," Crystal defends.

"Yea, she just heard you two instead," Hauntzer jokes, earning a playful slap from Luna.

"Don't worry, I really didn't see anything. Besides, there is more nudity in cosplay then there was in that room," Crystal jokes, making me feel a bit better and less embarrassed.

"Anyways, this is a party, right? Let's dance!" I shout as we all make our way to the dance floor and dance the night away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AR URF!!!
> 
> AR URF!!!
> 
> AR URF!!!
> 
> That's all I have to say for now...
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	36. I Choose You

"You ready for today?" Soren asks as he tenderly holds my hands in his.

"Yea, everything at the Academy is all taken care of, Luna is taking care of the house, and the prospects are all playing well."

"No, I mean, are you ready for today?" Soren asks again as I let out a tired sigh. "It's a big move, you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"I'm ready for something to change and I really want to be able to see again." I admit, starting to tear up. "I want to be able to see Luna and Kevin, Zach and Will, Vincent, and maybe even Peter again.

"Karina," Soren whispers giving my hand a squeeze.

"I want to be able to see you again," I cry. "It used to be so easy, I used to see your face every morning when I woke up and in the beginning, it was easy to just remember what you looked like. But your face has changed so much over the last year, that every morning I trace your face with my fingers, just to hold on to what you look like. This is so risky and I'm scared out of my mind, but I can't picture you in my head anymore and it's driving me insane."

"Karina, everything is going to be fine" Soren tries to soothe me as he wipes the tears off my cheeks and gives me a comforting kiss. "You've spent your whole life beating the odds and you're going to be you and beat the odds once again. You are the strongest person I know and I know that you are going to get through this and I'm going to be here for you every single step. Same goes for the rest of the guys, because they all love you."

"Ahah. When you retire, you should become a motivational speaker," I laugh between sniffles as I hear a pair of footsteps walk into my room.

"Miss Bjerg, we are ready to take you up now," a kind, high pitched voice informs me as I give a nod and hear the click of my bed breaks being unlocked.

"See you in a few hours," I say as the nurses wheel me down the hall.

"I'll be here when you wake up," Soren says, giving me one last kiss as he watches me disappear through the pre-op doors.

***

The cool summer breeze flows through my hair and the sound of birds singing is heard in the distance.

"Karina! Karina! Come here!" A boy's voice shouts as he runs past me, holding hands with a younger brown-haired girl.

"What? What is it?" The girl questions as she let's herself be tugged by the older boy. Curious about the commotion the two children were causing, I followed behind them.

"Just come here. I saw this and I wanted to show you!" The boy stops in the middle of a grassy field and points to the single red tulip growing among the other yellow ones.

"Wow, why is it so much prettier than the other ones?" The girl asks as she marvels at the beauty of the unique blossom.

"It's so pretty because it's special, just like you," I say in unison with the boy.

"Soreeeen," the girl whines. "You can't say that."

"But you're going to be my wife Karina, so I can tell you, you are pretty whenever I want," he laughs, still holding the girl's hand as she hangs her head in embarrassment.

"You promise you will marry me?"

"I promise."

***

"Hey, is she finally out of surgery?" Biofrost asks as he takes a seat next to me in the waiting room.

"Yea, the doctors said things went well and we just have to wait for the anesthesia to wear off," I tell him.

"That's good then. I'm sure Karina is going to be happy to see you again."

"Yea I think so too," I smile, imagining her beautiful face light up once she opens her eyes.

***

"Happy birthday to you!" Everybody claps as I blow out the candles on top of my birthday cake.

"Karina how does it feel to be 7?" Aunt Mae asks as she gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"It feels like I'm a grown up already," I declare as the adults chuckle at my answer.

"Lets hope you don't grow up too fast now, or else I'll miss my baby girl," a husky voice laughs as he hands me the first piece of cake. I pick up my fork and dive in fir the first bite.

"Thanks dad!" I say, swallowing and going in for another mouthful if cake. Before my fork makes contact with the cake for the second time, my arm freezes.

"Is everything okay sweetheart?" A higher pitched voice asks as I look up and am unable to formulate a proper sentence. "Hon, I think Karina is burning up."

"Yea, she's a little warm, she should probably go to bed." The male voice agrees as he places his hand on top of my forehead. "Come here sweet pea, let's take you up to bed and Auntie Bjerg and Soren will look after you while your mom and I head to the store for some medicine."

"Okay," I agree as he lays me down in bed and tucks me in.

"We will see you in a few minutes. We love you," the sweet voice says as I receive two pairs of kisses in my forehead before they leave.

Tired, I close my eyes for a minute before shooting up from my bed. "Wait, I can't let them leave!" I shout, flinging off the blanket and making my way downstairs.

"Mom? Dad?" I call out frantically, but there is no response. My heart begins to pound as I race out of the front door and begin running down the streets. My feet slap against the cold hard pavement and begin to hurt as I quicken my pace down the road, hoping it's not too late.

I take a sharp turn left and see the familiar headlights of my dad's station wagon coming down the street. I step out into the middle of the road and wave my arms frantically, hoping they will stop.

"Mom! Dad! Stop the car! You can't go to the store!" I shout as they are quickly approaching. I hear a whoosh of air from behind me and watch as a semi truck plows into them causing their car to crumple. I duck as a piece of my family car comes flying towards me and rush towards my parents. Before I am even able to get there, the car explodes, throwing me backwards and causing me to land hard on my back. I can hear the sound of my chest cracking from the impact and I lay there, ears ringing and unable to move.

***

My eyes flutter open and the sunlight burns as I stretch my arms above my head. I look around to figure out where I am and quickly realize I was back in my house in LA. My gaze fixates on a framed picture of my parents and I back in Denmark that sits on top of my desk.

"Mom and dad," I whisper to myself as I throw myself off my bed and run downstairs. "Mom?" I ask, staring at the sofa.

"Well, aren't we up early?" A deep voice chimes as I see my dad walking in from the kitchen with a glass of orange juice in his hand.

"Dad!" I shout, giving him a hug and almost knocking the glass out of his hand.

"Good morning, sweet pea." He says, returning the hug as we join my mom on the sofa. "Go give your mom a hug, she missed you a lot."

"Good morning mom," I say, giving her a hug.

"Morning sweetheart," she says, "Karina, you're holding on really tightly."

"I know, I just missed you a lot," I mumble into her shoulder. "I missed you both a lot."

"Haha, don't worry, it's not like we are going anywhere soon," my dad says, joining in. "Besides we have to see you get married and have kids, and see your kids have kids."

"Honey, she hasn't even graduated university yet," my mom protests.

"I know, I know," he hushes. "But the ceremony is today and she is going to be a graduate at the end of the day." I can't help but smile and the harmless banter of my parents while being enthralled in their warm embrace.

"Haha, yea mom! I'm going to graduate today..." My voice trails off as I let go of them.

"Sweet pea, what's wrong?" My dad asks, looking concerned.

"Karina, are you okay?" My mom asks, reaching for my hand. I stare t her hand that sits warmly on top of mine.

"Karina?" My dd asks again as I stand up from the sofa, letting my mom's hand fall, and I take a step back from the two.

"You...you're, you're, not real." I say as tears begin to fall. "You're not really here. You're dead. I'm dead, aren't I?" My parents take a quick glance at each other before softening their look towards me.

"Sweet pea, you're right," my dad says, confirming my suspicion as my mom takes my hands into hers again.

"How is this possible?" I question. "You're dead, but your hands are so warm. What is going on?" My mom lets out an audible sigh as she holds my hands tighter.

"Sweetheart, your dad and I are here to help you," she says, prompting my dad to finish explaining.

"Karina," my dad says in a quiet tone as he places his hand on my shoulder. "You have a decision to make. Right now, you are at a crossroad. You can choose to stay here, or come back to Denmark with us.

"What?" I say in disbelief. I take a minute to think about my options. "I want to go with you."

***

"Karina, I know you're in there," I whisper, holding on to her hand and listening to the monotonous beeping of the ventilator. "Just, wake up."

"Has she woken up yet?" Hauntzer asks when he enters with Luna.

"No," I answer simply, unable to say anymore.

"She's going to wake up Soren," Luna says, laying her hand on my back and trying to soothe me. "She's the fiercest person I've ever met, and she is going to pull through."

"Thanks Luna."

"Soren, let me take over for a bit," Santorin offers.

"No, I'm okay." I say stubbornly, not wanting to leave her side if she wakes up, or something worse happens.

"Soren, you really should take a break," Jensen agrees, "We are all here for Karina if something changes, but you're running yourself into the ground."

"No, I'm fine," I repeat, laying my head down on top of Karina's hand.

"Soren, it's been a week and you've been here this whole time. You know Karina wouldn't be happy with you right now." Hauntzer reasons with me. "Come on, lets go out for some fresh air and get you something good to eat. It'll be like 15 minutes tops."

"Okay," I sigh getting up, knowing he is right. "I'll be right back Karina."

***

"Are you sure Karina?" My mom looks at me with an earnest gaze and warm smile.

"Yes," I say definitively. "I get a second chance with you two back in my life. I get to have both my parents with me again. I've missed you guys so much of my life and there isn't a day that I wish I could call you and tell you everything that's going on in my life, and to have you tell me that you're proud of me. "

Karina.

"Okay, sweet pea, if that's what you want." My dad says as he takes my hand and my mom takes the other and they lead me towards the front door. "Let's go start a new life."

Karina, I know you can't talk, but I know you can hear me.

"Wait," I stop my parents in the middle of our foyer. "Do you guys hear that?"

You have stop it, right now!

"Hear what sweetheart?" My mom asks, giving me a confused lol.

"I- I hear a voice, it's familiar, but I don't know where it's coming from." I tell them as I shut my eyes.

Karina please, I just found you a couple of years ago and I don't want to lose you again. I can't imagine being in this world without you.

"Sweet pea, I don't hear anyth-"

"Shh!" I shush my parents as I try to locate where the voice is coming from.

From the moment I met you when we were kids, I knew you were someone special. You were always so happy, especially when things got tough and for the longest time, you were like gravity to me. You were the thing that held me onto this Earth and kept me going.

"Soren?" I whisper, realizing who the voice belonged to. "Where are you?" I question, dropping my parent's hands and looking up at the ceiling.

"Sweetheart," My mom calls, gaining my attention. "You hear him, don't you?"

"I do," I whisper, still wondering why it feels like he's all around me, but nowhere to be seen.

You were my best friend and I was in love with you when our story got cut short. I feel like us meeting how we did, was my second chance. This time I was able to confess to you how I felt and properly tell you that I love you, which was something I didn't think I would ever be able to do.

"He's calling to you." My dad says, as he lets go of my hand.

"Wha-what do I do?" I ask, unsure of the direction I should go in.

Putting her hands on my shoulders and giving me a firm smile, "Go to him," my mom tells me.

I understand if you have to go now. I understand that you want to see your parents again and be with them because you haven't seen them in a long time.

"But- But what about you guys? I don't want to leave you."

"That Soren boy was always been quite remarkable, you know. The two of you were inseparable as kids." My dad says, placing his hand on top of my head and giving it a slight rub. "I think you know what to do."

But I also want to be selfish. I want you to stay here with me.

"His voice is starting to fade." I tell them as tears begin falling again.

"So, run to him. Don't look back or stop running until you find your way back to him."

I want to do so many more things in the world and I want to do them with you, because Karina "Syntax" Tokishiro Bjerg, you are the love of my life.

"I'll miss you guys," I say turning my back to them.

"We are always watching over you, sweet pea." My dad says as I feel a push on my back and my feet begin moving beneath me. I sprint as fast as I can and my heart begins to burn at how hard it is working.

"Soren? Where are you?" I call out between breaths, starting to get tired. I have no idea where I am running to and his voice continues to fade, but I know I can't stop or else I'm never going to see him again.

I will love you and continue to love you whatever you choose to do.

"Soren I choose you! I choose you! Keep talking, dammit!"


	37. A Higher Power

"I will love you and continue to love you whatever you choose to do," I cry, leaning my head down and burying my face in her bed as I clutch onto her hand for dear life.

*Cough* "Dammit" *Cough * "Soren" I hear the croaking of a severely horse voice.

"K-Karina?" I question, thinking my mind is playing tricks on me again.

"Who else?" She croaks sarcastically as I leap out of my seat, realizing she is actually talking to me.

"Oh my god, Karina you're awake," I cry as my legs collapse under me.

"Soren, don't cry," she says, fighting off her own tears. She slowly raises her arm and wipes off the tears that stain my cheek. "You're going to make me sad."

"Ahaha, but these are tears of joy," I continue to weep. "I was so scared you weren't going to come back."

"I will always come back to you, Soren, because I choose you. I choose you over anything else in this world."

"I choose you too Karina."

***

"Wow, she really is the miracle girl!" Hauntzer shouts as he and the rest of TSM plus their girlfriends enter my hospital room.

"Shhh, too loud," Soren informs the top laner as he sees me wince in the sudden increase in volume.

"Oh, sorry Karina. I was just excited to see you awake again," he laughs in a quieter tone, rubbing the back of his head as he drops something into my lap.

"What's this?" I question, feeling inside the bag until my hand meets a cool metallic plate.

"It's your League medals," Biofrost tells me. "You have 2 championship medals and an MVP medal."

"Yea, and we got the box engraved with you're name on it too!" Luna chines in, sounding as cheerful as ever.

"Wow, thanks guys. This is really nice."

"You know, we were really scared you weren't going to make it, but I'm glad you're alright now." DoubleLift says, making me raise an eyebrow, though they probably couldn't see it because of the bandages over my eyes.

"What do you mean?" There is a slight pause, before Soren answers.

"Karina, you had a few close calls in the last two weeks," Soren informs me.

"Two weeks? I was out for that long?" I question, thinking it was only a few days I was out for. "You guys have to tell me everything that happened."

"Well, you came out of surgery and you seemed fine." Hauntzer begins.

"Then the doctors said you weren't coming out of the anesthesia properly," Svenskeren continues.

"So, they waited and waited, and discovered that you were in something like a coma, but not an actual coma," DoubleLift says as I not my head, trying to follow the story.

"Then they brought you here and told us to wait until you woke up," Biofrost hums.

"So, we waited two weeks and you magically woke up," Andy finishes.

"Oh, that's not so bad," I said, thinking the two weeks was not such a big deal.

"But Soren here never left your side. He stayed with you the whole time." Luna tells me. "He's such a good boyfriend."

"Yea, I know. He's the best," I say, noticing Soren has been squeezing my hand tightly this whole time. "Um, anyways guys, thanks for being here for me, but I'm getting really tired so I think I should get some sleep."

"Okay," they all agree. "We'll see you later Karina!" With that, I hear the footsteps of their departure.

"Soren," I say quietly, knowing he's holding something in. "What really happened?" I hear him shift in his seat and cough a couple times, clearing his throat.

"The guys don't know everything that happened in those two weeks," Soren says slowly. "There were things that happened and I didn't tell them."

"Soren," I say in a wary tone, beginning to get nervous. "What is it?"

"You, died holding my hand. Twice." He says in fragments. "About 2 or 3 days into your coma like state, you coded, meaning your heart stopped beating and they had to resuscitate you. They were able to bring you back, but then they started asking me questions. Questions about a DNR." Soren says, trying to stifle his voice. I can hear him getting worked up again, so I turn to my side and hold both his hands in between mine.

"I realized we had never talked about it and I guess legally because you were adopted into my family, I was the one who was making that decisions, because my parents were back in Denmark and couldn't fly out in time. I had no idea what you wanted and I was scared I was making the wrong choice for you. I heard your ribs break and I was scared that you would hate me for letting them do that to you."

"Soren," I coo, trying to calm him down. His voice is enough to tell me that he has been her a long time and he is really tired. "You didn't make the wrong decision. I would have chosen not to have a DNR unless there was no chance of me coming back or I was gorked."

"Gorked?" I hear him chuckle slightly.

"Yea, gorked. You know, like brain dead, or a vegetable for the rest of my life. I don't think that's much of a life worth living, because I wouldn't be enjoying it, I would just be existing."

"Oh, I see," he muses, seeming to have calmed down.

"Soren?"

"Yea?"

"Will you do me a favour and climb into bed with me?"

"Karina, I don't think now is the time if you're horney." Soren jokes, earning a slap on the back of his hand. "Fine, but if we get in trouble, I'm blaming you."

"Come on, nobody can blame the girl that died and came back to life twice in two weeks."

"Wait, you did code twice, but I didn't tell you about the second time." Soren says, confused, as he slips into my hospital bed with me.

"I know," I begin laughing

"Karina," Soren begins in a wary tone. "Are you okay? Do we have to get you a head CT or something? Maybe a psych consult?"

"No no no. Its just that I think something unexplainable happened while I was out."

"Okay, go on," he presses, knowing he's itching to hear what I have to say.

"I think I saw heaven, twice," I admit. "Or at least was at the doorway to heaven."

"Okay I'm really getting you that psych consult because you sound crazy," Soren laughs.

"No, I'm serious," I tell him, wrapping my legs around his and run my fingers across the bandage over my eyes while I explain. "The first thing I remember was seeing our old house back in Denmark. I watched as younger you held my hand and showed me that beautiful red tulip that grew among the other flowers. You told me you would marry me one day."

"Wait, you still remember that?" Soren asks, intrigued by my recollection.

"That's the thing, I don't remember that happening, or at least I didn't until I watched it happen right in front of me. But then there was my birthday. You and your mom were supposedly there, but I couldn't see you; I could only see the faces of my relatives that had already passed away. Then I saw my mom and dad." I say, feeling the hitch in my voice as Soren holds me tighter.

"I saw their car accident and I remember having really bad chest pains after the car exploded."

"So, you're guessing that was the first time you coded." Soren finishes my sentence, seeming to follow along.

"Yea, I think so," I say, taking a second to bask in the feeling of having Soren hold onto me again. "Then I was magically back in my old house in Denmark and I saw my parents, alive. It was like nothing had happened and it felt so real."

"Did you get to talk to them?" Soren asks.

"Yea, we talked for a bit. They asked me if I wanted to stay with them, and I told them I did, so we were just about to head out the front door when I heard something."

"You heard something? Like God or Jesus?"

"No, I heard you. I heard you talking to me and I remembered everything I would be leaving behind if I went with my parents. So, I told them I couldn't stay and they understood. They told me how proud they were of me too," I tell Soren, feeling some pain in my chest. "So, I ran. I ran towards your voice and my chest burned but I didn't want to stop."

"Karina, calm down," he whispers as he wipes the tears that I hadn't realized I shed. "Take it easy, they cracked your chest twice."

"I know," I cry more dramatically again. "I j-just really like being here. All I wanted that whole time I was running was to see your face, hear your voice, and feel you hold onto me again."

"Shhhh, you need rest," Soren whispers as he begins stroking my hair. "I'm here, holding onto you right now, and I promise I will keep holding on to you, no matter what."

"Soren," I cry, burring my face deeper in his chest and staining his t-shirt with my tears.

"Don't worry about anything right now," Soren coos, as he strokes my hair. "Just go to sleep." With that said, I shut my eyes and begin to fall asleep in Soren's arms, listening to the synchronized beeping of his heart and the monitor.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEYOOO!
> 
> Ok, so this chapter and the last, was based on something one of my family members experienced. There is quite the debate on afterlife and God, and whatnot, but that's not really what it's about. Someone from my family had a near death experience after they had come out from surgery. Their heartrate and breathing rate was super low and they weren't coming out of the anesthetic as quickly as hoped.
> 
> The family member had eventually come out of the anesthetic after quite a long time and told me about what they had experienced during that time. It wasn't like a recap of their life and one decision point, like Karina, it was more like they saw higher beings and they had spoken to each other. The higher beings, more or less, had told them to fight, because it's not their time to go yet and there is much more they had to do on this earth before they can leave.
> 
> Personally, I am agnostic, meaning I neither believe or disbelieve the existence of a higher power. But after experiencing some weird things and having stories told to me by some other people who have had near death experiences, I am currently leaning more towards the idea of some sort of higherpower/afterlife that we aren't able to see. Its actually kinda comforting to have the idea of some sort of next step to your journey, rather than living then being basically non existent after death.
> 
> (I also fully believe in spirits/ghosts/demons and all things alike)
> 
> So yea, that was the main inspiration behind the last two chapters and I hoped you liked them!
> 
> 3 more days until Christmas!
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	38. Big Spoon, Little Spoon

"No, no matter what you need to communicate with your team!" I yell at Mike (MrMike) from one of my Academy teams. I let out a huff of air, trying to calm down before trying to explain again.

"If you shut down, especially during a team fight, you are only going to be a liability to your team."

"But Amy is the worst ADC out of the 6 teams. How was someone like her even chosen?" Mike muttered, unknowingly hitting my self destruct button.

"Oh no, he's going to get it now," I hear Amelia (DarkAmy) whisper to her jungler Keith (Kapapapa).

"Listen here Mike," I half threaten, leaning over his seat and getting within inches of his face. "First off, don't you dare insult the other players for your incompetence. Secondly, I hand picked each and every player here because I see something in them, so I dare you to insult my decision again."

"L-look Karina, I-I didn-"

"SHH," I hiss, taking my arms off the seat and heading towards the door. "Mike, I'm running a business here, so I easily can list of 50 supports that match your skill, but don't come with the disrespectful attitude that you do. If you can't handle having someone that's not the same gender as you, as your teammate, then you need to pack your things for your replacement to move in. Or, you can swallow your pride, apologize for how toxic you are towards your team, and continue to learn and grow. It's your choice." I finish as I close the door behind me and listen to the conversation that is about to happen.

"Look, I don't mean to be an ass. I just really want to do well and I'll try harder to be a better teammate." I hear Mike tell his team.

"We are all a little stressed out, so lets just try to move forward as a team," their top laner reasons as I hear murmurs of agreement.

"And do you know now, why they nicknamed her the Dark KareBear?" Amelia asks as the room explodes into laughter.

"Dark KareBear, huh?" I laugh, amused at the nickname the up and comers have come up with as I head off to see how the rest of the staff and teams are doing.

***

"Happy birthday to you!" Everyone sings and claps as I blow out my 19 candles.

"So, Karina, when can you take those dorky covers off your eyes?" DoubleLift asks as he begins cutting the cake.

"Uh, in 2 more weeks, so it'll be right after you guys win the split," I say, digging my fork into the melting ice-cream cake.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, who said TSM is going to win this year?" Hai interjects, sounding fake offended.

"Nobody, but I'm just making a prediction at it'll be another TSM C9 finals," I say, giving Hai a cocky smile and licking the ice- cream off my spoon.

"Nah, nah, nah, you guys are crazy. It's going to be CLG and FLY in the finals, guaranteed," Aphromoo confidently informs us.

"Ppft, in your dreams," Sneaky scoffs.

"Yea, you are in my dreams," Meteos and Jensen both say in a low tone towards Sneaky, causing him to squeal like a girl.

"You three need to get a room," Hauntzer complains, sounding disgusted at the scene.

"Yea, look who's talking," Bjergsen jokes. "Kevin here can't keep his hands off his girlfriend. They are always touching each other."

"Oooooo," the house goes, eager for Bjergsen to spill the beans.

"Pppft, shut up Soren, at least Luna and I don't do it in a room during a party," Hauntzer shoots back, giving me flash backs of that night and Crystal catching us.

"At least I don't mount him in the middle of the living room floor," I sass back.

"Hey, that was sparing practice," Hauntzer defends.

"Babe," Luna says in a curious tone. "So ,you admit I did win that fight?"

"What? No, a tiny girl like you didn't win that fight," he scoffs, clearly embarrassed at he did, in fact loose to Luna earlier today.

"Well, Luna clearly just won that fight," Bunny whispers to Xpecial, who bursts into uncontrollable laughter, which infects the rest of the house.

***

"Whew," I sigh, flopping down onto the bed, tired from the busy day of errands and partying.

"Tired?" Soren questions as he climbs into bed next to me.

"Mhm," I say, ready to drift off into dreamland. "Soren?"

"Yea?" he mumbles, sounding tired himself.

"Have you decided what you are going to force me to look at in 2 weeks?" I ask, curious if he was serious about our previous arrangement.

"Mmmm, I think I have some kind of idea," Soren muses, trying to fake that he hasn't already planned whatever he is planning out.

"Oh, really now?" I ask sarcastically. "Well, could you tell me?"

"Nope," he says quickly as he shifts so his back is facing me. "Night Karina."

"Really, you won't tell me?" I ask again, this placing my hand on his shoulder and whispering quietly in his ear. "Not even if I ask nicely?"

"How nice are we talking?" He asks, sounding slightly intrigued at my offer.

"Hmmmm, depends. What's it going to take to get you to tell me?"

"I don't know, you have to offer me something, since you're the one who wants information out of me." Soren says innocently.

"Fine, is this nice enough?" I ask as I straddle Soren's waist and run my hands up his torso.

"No, that's kind of boring," he says plainly.

"Boring?" I repeat, slightly offended though I know he's joking. "Let me sweeten the pot a little bit then." I proceed to slip my tank top over my head, leaving me in just my bra and some short shorts.

"Tsk, I don't know, maybe you have to get a little more sweet," Soren says, amused at the situation as he places my hands on my hips and I wrinkle my nose, trying to think of what to do next.

"Babe, your hands should be here instead," I suggest as I move his hands around my back and lower them slightly. With his hands helping to prop me up, I lean over, gliding up his torso until we come face to face. I cup his cheek and we engage in a deep, passionate kiss and I can feel his hands moving slightly as we continue. "How, about, now?" I ask again, finally separating for air.

"Still not enough," Soren breaths, trying to sound uninterested.

"Soren," I whine, sitting back up. "Tell me, please."

"You know I'm not going to tell you my secret, because you didn't tell me yours," Soren says childishly. "Besides, you are very bad at trying to sweeten the pot."

"Am I really?"

"Yea, maybe just a bit," he says straight up.

"Are you sure about that? Because that's what your mouth is saying, but that's not what I'm hearing from down there," I say, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Ah-, Um, I uh, erm." Soren stutters as he shifts slightly and I can feel his whole body heat up in embarrassment, causing me to laugh. "Hey, don't laugh at me. It's a perfectly natural thing, you know."

"I know, I know, but your natural thing doesn't lie, unlike your cute little mouth." I sass back, leaning down for another kiss. "Don't worry, I wont 'bore you' anymore tonight because I'm too tired and just want to sleep."

"Mhmm, sleep sounds good right about now," Soren agrees as I lay down beside him so we are facing each other.

"Little spoon or big spoon?" I ask, curious of his answer.

"Let's change it up and you can be big spoon," he suggests.

"Fine then," I agree as he turns around, allowing me to wrap my arms around him. "How's this?"

"It's fine. Good night."

"Night," I respond, closing my eyes. I can feel the calm rising and falling of Soren as I listen to the quiet humming coming from my laptop and constant ticking of my wall clock.

Tick toc, tick tock.

The clock continues at a consistent pace, marking the passing of each second. As each second passes, I am now a second closer to being able to take off my stupid bandages and finally living my life in the bright colourful world I should be in right now.

I feel Soren, shifting underneath my arms in an attempt to get into a comfortable position. "Soren?" I whisper, unsure if he is still awake, but there isn't an answer. "Are you uncomfortable?"

"Kinda," he finally answers back. "Are you uncomfortable?"

"Abso-frickin-lutely yes." I say as I retract my arm and try to shake the numbness away.

"Haha, I guess we weren't made to be certain spoons," Soren jokes as I feel him turn around.

"Nope, I guess not. Um, would you like to go back to being the big spoon?" I timidly suggest.

"Sure, uh, well actually I don't know. Only if you're comfortable with it. I haven't exactly, you know, yet," he says, sounding uncomfortable saying the words coming out of his mouth.

"I uh, don't mind?" I say, though it sounds more like a question than a statement. "I-I'm fine with it, but only if you're okay." I internally cringe at the difficulty of this very simple conversation.

"Sure then," Soren decides as I turn my back towards him and he wraps his warm arms around me. "Is this okay?"

"It's always okay whenever you hold me like this," I chuckle. "It feels warm and safe. How about you?"

"Me too," Soren agrees. "I like having you in my arms every night, knowing you're okay."

"Good night Soren."

"Good night Karina."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEYOOOO!!!
> 
> So as you all know, this book is coming to an end soon ☹ But I have to say, it's been a lot of fun writing it through my semester and it's actually been a huge stress reliever!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has been reading, voting, and commenting. Your support has truly been amazing and I hope to write some more in the future.
> 
> (What/who would you like to read about?)
> 
> 2 days until Christmas!!!


	39. The Proposal of A Lifetime

"Are we there yet?" I question like an excited child. "How much longer?"

"Jesus Karina, why are you so eager?" Hauntzer sighs from next to me.

"Because I want you guys to win another championship and then ride that high all the way to finals at Worlds," I say confidently.

"Shhhhh ah nooooo," I hear DoubleLift whine from the back. "Karina, you just jinxed us! Now we aren't going to win because you're a dirty, rotten jinxer."

"Hey, don't talk to my girlfriend like that," Bjergsen defends.

"Oh yea, what are you gonna do about it, you stick of a boy?" DoubleLift shoots back.

"I'm gonna kick your ass," Bjergsen retorts. "Or send my swol man Dennis after you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, now let's not get violent here. I only Vincent to protect me," DoubleLift begins backing down.

"Hey, who said I was going to protect you out of game?" Vincent questions.

"Guys, shut up. We're here." Andy announces as the car engine turns off and the Uber door flings open. We all file out of the car and I immediately hear fan girls calling the in-game names of the boys, trying to get their attention.

"Come on, lets win another championship," Bjergsen says, as he grabs my hand and leads me inside.

***

The boys are leading 2-1 as they head into their 4th match against Immortals at the TD garden in Boston. I listen nervously while they are in champion select and the castors break down strategies for picks on each side. Immortals ends up picking Rumble, Sejuani, Lucian, Xayah, and Alistar, while TSM picks up Gnar, Gragas, Corki, Tristana, and Rakan.

I'm a little worried about the lane matchs up since Olleh is really good at Alistar and Xayah is a super meta pick right now, Rumble is pretty much a counter to Gnar, and Lucian mid turned from a cheese pick to something pretty lethal. But I have faith in my boys. Hauntzer's Gnar has gotten insanely good, DoubleLift luckily has BioFrost who is a BioGod at Rakan, and I would never count Bjerg out of any match up.

They load into the rift and the 4th match of the series has finally begun.

***

"And they might go for baron. DoubleLift is up, but the rest of the TSM squad is dead, so yes! Immortals goes straight for the it and secures an easy 20 minute baron!" I hear Jatt announce as I let out a sigh and sink deeper into my chair. The first 20 minutes has been absolutely a mess for TSM. Biofrost gave up first blood from a Sejuani gank, Bjerg hasn't been able to kill Lucian despite having help from Svenskeren, and Rumble has been able to get some critical ults down on the backline of the team, just shredding their health bars and earning him a cool 4/0/1 score.

"Do you think TSM is going to lose?" Patrik "PattyStar" asks from behind me.

"I don't know," I tell the Academy teams honestly as I rub my temples, stressed out at how the match is going and seriously wondering if there is going to be a new team banner up, outside of the typical 3 team's banners. "They have the potential to stop Immortals from snowballing even more, but it's going to take a lot of push back from them. Hauntzer really needs to make a play for the team so they have a chance of winning."

"Why are Immortals switching between taking inhib towers?" Amelia "DarkAmy" questions.

"Minions are flowing in from the lanes, right? They want chip damage on both towers, because tower diving is really risky despite their baron and stronger team," I inform the learning pro players, folding my hands together on my knees and resting my hands on them "Come on boys, pull of a charm or throw them into a wall, or something."

"TSM's mid tower is down, but look here comes Biofrost with the flash charm and Sven with the double knock up! TSM is able to kill Cody Sun with ease as Immortals begins backing off now. Whoa, Biofrost goes in for another charm, despite being at a quarter health and is able to charm Xmithie and Olleh, as Flame lays down the Rumble Ult then is forced to Zhonyas. Gragas lands a 3 man Belly Bump, knocking Immortals up once again as DoubleLift is able to secure the kill on flame. Immortals splits, running from the TSM base, but TSM is on the hunt, burning flashes and rocket jumping to clean up Pobelter, but letting Sejuani and Alistar live as they decide to take Ocean Drake instead."

"Yes! Make your come back boys!" I cheer, jumping up from my chair.

Immortals is back up and head straight down mid for the inhibitor and the two teams posture up to each other for a while. They eventually rotate top and Biofrost flash charms in once again, able to charm a few. Pobelter and Xmithie fall from the dog pile of damage TSM is able to deal and now its 3v5 with TSM heading towards the baron. The baron is started and is chipped to 9000hp when TSM finally pulls the trigger, turning on the remaining 3 Immortals members, causing them to scatter, but ultimately TSM is able to ace Immortals, forcing them to wait out their 50 second death timers as they return back to baron.

TSM is able to save their base, leaving just 1 nexus tower up as they clear it and begin pushing down the lanes. Biofrost has truly been ab BioGod so far as he uses his Redemption to secure the kill onto Olleh and the team takes down almost all of Immortal's towers, leaving them with 2 exposed inhibitors.

TSM begins walking towards the blind baron while Immortals is quickly chunking it down. Luckly, Alistar walks right into them, allowing the team to shred the support and rush into the pit. Baron was quickly smited by Xmithie, but a Gragas barrel is able to spread the whole team out, allowing DoubleLift and Bjergsen to lay down the damage onto Cody Sun and Xmithie as the remaining 2 members of Immortals run for their lives. The boys begin running down mid and easily take the inhibitor and are working on the nexus turrets. Death timers are now 60 seconds, so Rumble and Lucian try to make a play against the 5 man group, but quickly fall, allowing TSM to take down the nexus turrets, then quickly do the same with the nexus.

"Yes!" I jump up cheering, pumping my fist in the air as the room explodes with hype. "You did it guys! Woohoo!"

***

"Syntax, are you ready to head out on stage?" A Riot employee asks me.

"Um, just give me a minute," I tell him as the fluttering in my stomach increases once again. The boys had just won the LCS for the 4th split in a row, which was pretty amazing that they were able to be so dominant for so long. Once again, Bjergsen was being awarded MVP and Riot had just asked me to present him his trophy, which of course, I said yes to. Now that the game is over and the boys had already done their victory interviews, it was my turn to step on stage so I could present Soren with his 4th MVP award.

I was nervous. Nervous to step on that stage again after the way I had to leave it over a year ago. But this was for Soren, and I would do anything for him.

"Yea," I sigh, adjusting my high heels and wiping my hands on my dress one last time as I grab a microphone and head onto the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, gamers around the world, please join me in welcoming to the stage, two time NA LCS champion and MVP alumni, and here to present this split's MVP, Karina 'Syntax' Bjerg!" Phreak announces as I walk onto stage and the Boston crowd begins cheering loudly.

"Hello everyone!" I say into the microphone. "I am so happy to announce and present this split's MVP winner. The winner has shown incredible achievement this split, going a smooth 5.0 KDA, outstanding performances on his Taliyah and highly criticized Zliean, and not to mention, being an amazing shot caller and team player. I am happy to announce to the stage, this split's MVP from the championship team TSM, Bjergsen!" The crowd goes wild as Bjerg ascends the stage, meeting me in the middle as I hand him the coveted trophy.

"Ahaha, thank you everyone," Bjergsen laughs, sounding slightly flustered. "Um, I would of course like to thank the people who chose me for this award, along with my teammates who helped me get better through the split, and the fans for always supporting me and TSM. But I especially want to thank my wonderful girlfriend, Karina who, for the last year and 8 months, has been the most amazing girlfriend ever." I smile to myself, as Soren stops talking and gives me a warm hug.

"Now, Karina, do you remember that deal we made a few weeks ago?"

"Yea, the one about my eyes?" I ask, unsure of where he was going with this.

"Well, I want to cash it in right now," Bjergsen says, with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Now? Well, okay, a deal is a deal," I say as I feel Soren approaching as moves me a quarter turn to the left. My heart begins to race and my mind scrambles as Soren places his hands on the sides of my protective glasses.

What if it didn't work?

"Open your eyes in 3, 2, 1," he says, and with that, I feel the glasses being taken off my head as I cautiously open my eyes. The initial image is blurry and it takes me a few blinks for my eyes to adjust to the lighting. Once focused, an image forms of the fans, all spelling out words that I am unable to process at the moment.

"Karina?" I hear Soren's voice ask.

"Soren, what ar-" I am cut off mid sentence as I turn to the right and the microphone immediately slips from my hand, causing a low thud onto the stage floor.

"Karina, I know I wasn't always the best friend that you needed, but you were always my best friend. You were always there for me when I needed you, whether I knew it or not, and you especially knew when to put me in my place for doing something stupid, or when to just love me and be with me when I needed it," Soren begins as my eyes water and tears begin to flow uncontrollably. "Karina I made a promise to you when we were just kids, and now I know that, that promise, wasn't just some stupid thing a ten-year-old boy said to the girl he liked. That promise was really when I first knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. So, I would like to make that promise come true."

Soren smiles at me and I can see him beginning to get misty eyed as he pulls a small velvet box out of his back pocket and kneels down on one knee. "I am the luckiest man in the world to have you and ask you, Karina Mae Tokishiro Bjerg, will you marry me?"

My breath escapes me as I bring my hands up to my face and recall the evolution of the nerdy Danish boy into the handsome Danish man that is in front of me right now.

"Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!" I cry as Soren quickly slides the diamond studded gold ring on my left hand before standing up and giving me a long kiss in front of the Boston crowd and everyone else watching from all over the world. "I love you," I tell him as we break apart and I stroke his cheek with my thumb, taking a minute to soak up scene and lock in into my memory forever.

"I love you too," Soren whispers as he goes in for another kiss, this time earning hooting and hollering from the crowd as he dips me backwards and we both bask in the moment together.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Christmas Eve everyone!
> 
> I hope everyone's winter has been fun and filled with a lot of friends and family.
> 
> Just 2 more chapters left, both will be released tomorrow as a special Christmas wrap up.
> 
> ~MemeDreamTeam


	40. Preparations

"Okay, we have to pick a good day," Soren says as he places a large 12 moth calendar on the table and begins flipping through the months.

"What season do you want?" I ask. "Not spring because I have terrible allergies."

"And not summer since it's too hot," Soren says, flipping straight to September.

"So I guess fall or winter, but we would have to wait over a year."

"Does it really take that long?" Soren asks, truly having no clue how long or how much effort goes into planning a wedding for with over 300 guests.

"I've got a lot of connections so it can take less time but still a lot of time, and we also have to give people save the date cards," I say, thinking realistically how quick we can make this all happen.

"So, its August right now, how does January sound?" He asks, flipping back to January and running his finger across the days.

"Hmm, that gives us 5 months... I think it's do able, but we both have to do some overtime on this if we want to pull it off."

"Okay, I'm good with that. January 20th, 2018 sounds good to me." With that, Soren circles the date with a thick red marker.

"Isn't that first day of LCS?" I question.

"Oh, right, never mind then," he says, making a big X over the 20th. We do the same selection process a few more times, crossing out 10 more days that won't work.

"How about the 16th?" I say, pointing at one of the few remaining days. "It's not on a weekend so LCS won't interfere, it's a Tuesday so you have time to sulk if you lose that week, and it's right between New Years and Chinese New Years."

"Actually, that sounds like the perfect day," Soren agrees as he circles and stars the date with his pen. "January 16th, it is then.

***

"Inside or outside venue?" Our wedding planner asks us.

"Outside," we answer in unison.

"Alcohol?"

"Open bar."

"Food and type?"

"Catered h'orderves, European and Asian and a 3 course dinner."

"Okay, last question, table arrangement?"

"Uhhhh," we say, looking at each other.

"How about colour theme?" She asks, though she just said last question a minute ago.

"We haven't thought about that," we both say in unison, causing both of us to laugh.

"Wow, the dream couple still manages to have the same response, even when they don't know what they want," the wedding planner says, amused at how alike we are.

"Well, we grew up together, then were on the same professional gaming team for a bit," Soren says as he puts his arm around my shoulder and gives me a peck.

"I guess you could say, we've had a lifetime to build our synergy together," I laugh.

"That you have," the planner agrees as we continue discussing ideas.

***

"How about this one?" Soren asks, feeding me a piece of cake. "Its their red velvet cake."

"Hmmm it's tastes good, but a little dry," I say, as I'm handed another piece of cake by the cake store workers. "We could always do 2 flavours."

"True, so we are going with the chocolate sponge with mocha cream as one flavour. We just need to pick another one."

"How about this?" I ask, feeding him another piece. "They call it Lemon heaven."

"Yo, that's really good. I could eat a whole cake of that myself," Soren praises. "So that one too then?"

"I guess so, chocolate mocha and lemon heaven it is."

"Good, because I'm so sick of cake right now. I don't want to eat anymore until next year," Soren groans as he leans back in his chair and rubs his growing pot belly.

***

"Wow, look at the size of that rock," Luna says in amazement as she carefully examines my left hand.

"I know, right? I know Soren makes a lot from streaming compared to prize pools, but I'm pretty sure this was way more expensive than the 3-month's salary," I say, feeling bad at how much it probably cost.

"3 months?" Amelia asks, unsure of what I mean.

"Yea like, typically 3-month's salary is how much you should spend on a ring, or at least that's what people have been telling me."

"Oh, I see," Amelia nods her head. "Man, I want a proposal like yours, it was so sweet."

"Hey, you gotta pick 1 boyfriend first, Amy." Luna sasses back as she takes another sip of champagne. "I just wish my boyfriend would hurry up and propose. I don't even care when or where at this point."

"Girls please, your bickering is making me even more nervous," I say, downing my champagne in one go.

"Oh, come on Karina. There is nothing to worry about. Everything is planned and taken care of already, you just have to try it on after they did the alterations."

"What if they screwed up the alterations?" I say, getting agitated and beginning to bounce my knee in anticipation.

"Well then you're screwed," Santorin says as he gives me a cheeky grin.

"Lucas!" The three of us shout.

"You're not helping here," Luna says, giving him a slap on the arm.

"Yea Lucas, you are definitely the worst bridesman ever," I complain, throwing my head back in anxiety.

"Stop it, you know I hate it when you do that," Amelia says, placing her hand firmly on my leg to stop it from nervously bouncing up and down. "Karina, they said this is will be the dress for you."

"Yea, its Pnina Tornai and this is Kleinfelds, the place where bridal magic happens," Luna says confidently as the store manager comes towards us with my dress in hand.

"Miss Karina, I have your dress ready for you. Will you come and try it on?" He asks sweetly as I nod my head and follow him towards the changeroom. I strip my clothes off and step into the middle of the dress, pulling it up so that it fits snugly around my body. I adjust the shoulders and run my hands through the skirt to smooth out the bottom of the dress as I pull the curtain open, revealing the finished product to my bridal party.

"Karina," Luna breathes looking completely doe eyed.

"Oh my god," Amelia whispers with her mouth still hanging open.

"KareBear," Santorin says, immediately standing up as his eyes wander all over, but not in a creepy way.

"So, how does it look?" I ask rifling my hands through the skirt as my friends are all unable to form any sentence at all. I immediately feel multiple eyes locked onto me as I not so subtly look around the store, noticing that I have caught the attention of multiple people who were shopping for their own dresses. "Um anyone? How does it look?" I ask again, worried that something looked weird or odd.

"Sweetheart," I hear a sassy voice whisper of the manager as he takes a moment to look at me from head to toe before taking my hands in his. "I don't say this lightly, but I have to say that you are one of the most beautiful brides that have ever walked into this store," he complements as he guides me towards their 'center stage', which is really a 360 mirror locate in the heart of the large store. I take a careful step into the platform and I am now able to see what everyone is so awe struck about.

I stare at myself in the mirror, unsure if the person staring back was actually me. I turn my shoulder slightly and watch as the sheer lace corset bodice with a slight plunging sweetheart neckline moves along with me, almost acting like a second skin. My hands run through the layers of the white tulle skirt, causing it to flow like shimmering water at the slightest movement. I let out a deep breath right before quickly turning around in a circle

"Wow," I smile in amazement as I watch the skirt flare out before falling perfectly back into place.

"Wow is right honey," the manager agrees as he quickly scurries off. "I also thought this will complete your look." He says, coming up behind me and pinning a veil into my hair.

"Wow," I say, still shocked at my appearance. I hold the veil to one side of my head and watch it float gently down to my hair as I let go.

"Karina, I have to ask you, are you going to say yes to the dress?" The manager asks as I quickly look over to Luna, Amelia, and Lucas who all give me approving nods.

"Yes. This is 100% my dream dress," I say, taking the dress for another spin.

***

"It's tomorrow," I say, climbing into bed next to Soren.

"Yes it is," he responds, giving me a peck on the cheek before grabbing me by the waist. "I can't believe we've been planning this for the last 5 months and tomorrow we get married."

"Me either. It all feels like such a dream," I say as I lay there.

"Good night Karina, my soon to be wife. Tomorrow can't come quick enough."

"Night Soren, my soon to be husband," I laugh as we both fall asleep, knowing that tomorrow we aren't going to be dating or engaged anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas Everyone!
> 
> It's officially 3:00am where I am, but I felt like I just had to finish these last two chapters before I went to bed. I hope everyone's Christmas and holidays are filled with family and friends and happy memories.
> 
> See you in the final chapter!
> 
> ~MemeDream Team


	41. Second Chances

"WHAT TIME IS IT?" I holler as I run down the stairs with my dress in my hands.

"1:30pm." Luna says, following me downstairs.

"Dammit. Amelia Karlson, Lucas Larson! Hurry your asses up! I won't be late for my own wedding because of you two!" I yell again as I hand Luna my dress and grab my high heels from the closet.

"Yea, yea, we're coming." Lucas says nonchalantly as he trots down the stairs with Amelia who only has half her hair done.

"Good lord, you look like a mess, Amy," I sigh as we all head towards the limo that is taking us to the ceremony location.

"I'll be fine. I can finish my hair when we get there. We aren't even late," Amelia says, sounding like her usual laid-back self.

"Anyways," Luna begins as she passes each of us a glass of champagne. "Cheers to a successful day."

"Cheers," we all say as our glasses clink together and the nerves begin.

***

"You ready?" Luna asks as she checks her phone. "It's almost 3:00pm."

"I guess so," I say, taking a deep breath in, then exhaling. "I just hope I don't fall or anything."

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall," I hear a very familiar voice say as I turn around and see Jensen with his suit on. "Plus, I have to say, you look absolutely amazing in that dress."

"Thanks, but what are you doing back here?" I question, giving him a hug.

"A fellow Dane told me you refused his original offer, so you still had no one to walk you down the isle." Jensen says, raising his eyebrows at me. "I'm here to fix that for you."

"What? Really? You would do that for me?" I say in disbelief.

"Of course I would Karina, you are my best female friend and we've known each other the longest out of all these shmucks, right?"

"Haha, yea, you're right," I laugh.

"Shall we?" Jensen asks, holding his arm out for me to hold onto as Luna, Amelia, and Lucas head out to the ceremony.

"Thanks, this means a lot to me," I say holding onto Jensen's arm and hearing Pachelbel's Cannon in D play by the string quartet.

The grand doors leading to the garden slowly open and I take a quick glance at everyone who was able to make it to support my wedding, but then my eyes lock on to a teary-eyed Soren. I give him a smile and start tearing up myself, seeing him stand in the middle of a flower arch with the officiary and his groomsmen. The music continues to play as Jensen and I make our way down the isle, my eyes never breaking contact with Soren's.

"Here's your future wife," Jensen smiles as I let go of his arm and walk my final few steps as a single woman.

"You look beautiful," Soren whispers, trying to stifle his crying as he wipes another tear away from his face. "I can't believe I'm about to marry you."

"Aha, you don't look too bad yourself," I sniffle, trying not to smear my makeup. "I can't believe this is happening."

"Thank you everyone, please be seated and we can begin ceremony to unite Karina and Soren," the officiary says as everyone takes their seat and Soren takes my hands in his.

(Skip all the boring officiary stuff)

"Now, I understand you two have each written some vows for each other?" The officiary asks as we both nod our heads. "Karina, I'll as you to go first."

"Soren, my best friend, my teammate, and my rock, you are such an amazing person and I'm lucky to call you my husband for the rest of our lives. Our road hasn't always been easy and I'm sure its only going to get harder from here on, but I'm glad you're the person I get to travel with. I promise to continue being an amazing duo partner, to be your sanctuary and guidance, and to love and cherish you through sickness and health, but most often, through your tilt," I say, causing Soren and the guests to laugh.

"Karina, my oldest friend, my chef, and my soulmate, you are best, most sincere and loyal person I've ever met. I'm feel so lucky to have found you years after we lost touch and its pretty amazing knowing that we began as friends over a decade ago and we end today as husband and wife. I promise to continue to love you, to be your place of solace when life gets tough, and to forever be the big spoon to your little spoon in sickness and health, but most often, through your rage quits," Soren finishes, causing me to laugh, embarrassed at my raging sprees.

"Now, Karina, do you take Soren to be your husband until death do you apart?"

"I do," I say as Soren slips his ring around my finger.

"Soren, do you take Karina to be your wife until death do you apart?"

"I do," he says as I slip my ring around his finger.

"By the power vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." The officiary finishes as I bring my hand up to Soren's cheek as he takes me by the waist and we officially have our first kiss as husband and wife.

"BOOO! Kiss her like you mean it!" Meteos shouts as soon as we break apart and there is a round of hollers in agreement. I laugh with Soren as he unexpectedly dips me while we engage in a more passionate kiss than earlier.

***

*Ting* *Ting* *Ting*

The sound of metal clanging on the glasses rings throughout the reception area.

"Ahem, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time ever, I introduce Mr. and Mrs. Bjerg!" Amelia announces as we fling the doors open and make our way dancing to the middle of the ballroom. "Lets give a hand to the newlyweds!" The room explodes with thunderous clapping and cheering from all of our guests.

"I would first like to begin by thanking everyone for being here today to celebrate our wedding and thank the bridal party for being such amazing people and helpers, but especially thank Amelia for being our amazing MC tonight," I say, bowing my head.

"We would also like to thank everyone who flew out to be here today, it means a lot to the both of us that you could make the trip out here for our special day," Soren says as he gives everyone a wave. "By the looks of it, it sounds like dinner is about to start, so I hope everyone enjoys the food and has a fun time tonight."

*Ting* *Ting* *Ting* *Ting* *Ting* *Ting*

The guests clatter their cutlery on their glasses, signaling Soren and I to kiss.

"Wow, I can't believe how beautiful everything looks," I tell Soren as I look around at the decorations and perfectly arranged flower centerpieces that matched our modern outdoor garden theme.

"You know what?" Soren asks as he gives me a goofy smile. "I can't believe how beautiful you look." With that, Soren leans in and gives me a peck on the lips to satisfy our rowdy, and maybe slightly horney, guests as they cheer us on.  
***  
"Ugh I'm so full," Soren groans as he leans back in his chair.

"Haha, nobody told you to eat so much," I laugh as I finish off my last piece of fillet mignon and set my cutlery to 5 o'clock.

"But it was soooo good," he praises as we hear the familiar clattering of glasses. Soren and both let out a half sigh half laugh and quickly oblige to the guest's wishes.

"Ahem, may I get everyone's attention?" Amelia says as she taps on the mic. "With dinner winding down, I figured it was time for some speeches. A few people have some words prepared for the wonderful bride and groom and first, I would like to invite up the best man and maid of honour, Kevin and Luna." We all clap as the two make their way to the stage.

"Soren and Karina," Luna begins, giving us a warm smile. "There hasn't been 1 time where ive said one name without the other, and I truly believe that the two of you were made for each other."

"I mean look at them. They are probably the second hottest couple in the room right now, because everyone knows it's Dennis and Soren for life," Haunter jokes causing everyone to laugh at the very true statement about my husband's borderline gay relationship with his former jungler.

"Soren, we both have watched as you made great strides in opening up to people and getting some pretty good gains both physically and as a man."

"Ye that's right, I ain't a beanpole no more!" Soren hollers back as he stands up and flexes.

"and Karina, we've watched you change from a sweet bubbly girl, to an old lady who cooks and cleans for us, but most importantly walks around smacking us with wooden spoons whenever we did something wrong. You have truly turned into an amazing grandma," Hauntzer smiles as he watches the burn set in.

"Hey! No more protein shakes for you!" I shout, grabbing a nearby salad tong and throwing it at him, but he catches it with ease.

"But seriously," Luna continues, "you two have made the most amazing couple I've ever scene."

"Through the good times, bad times, and down right weird times, you two are always there for each other, no matter how angry you each were just a few seconds ago."

"Karina and Soren, we wish you the best for the years to come. Cheers to you guys." They finish in unison, raising their glass at us and taking a sip of champagne.

"Okay thank you Luna and Kevin. Up next, we have Soren's mom with a lovely speech for the lucky couple.

"Hello and good evening everyone. Now, I was going to write a speech about how wonderful of a couple these two are, but I figured I have the rest of my life to tell everyone that. Instead, I decided to read something on behalf of a very important person, couldn't be here to read this herself." Soren's mom pauses for a moment as she pulls the red ribbon that binds a curled piece of paper in her hands and begins reading.

Karina, my lovely daughter, if you are reading this, then that means you just got married. You have turned into such a beautiful, kind, and charismatic woman and words can not express how proud of you your dad and I are. I am so sorry we couldn't be here for you on this very special day to help decorate, pick out your dress, and walk you down the isle.

I know life has been tough for you since you were little and it will only get harder from here on. Being independent, a wife, and hopefully mother some day, is hard work, but I am comforted knowing that you have made some truly loyal and amazing friends and you have a husband like Soren to walk the rest of your life with.

Know, I know what I just said and I'm going to give the two of you a minute to let that sink in.

Soren, I saw something the first time you two met, it was much like a spark. You two went to school, ate meals, and played with each other every day. You each were so content just having each other that you didn't need any other friends. As you both continued to connect, I watched as that spark grew into a tiny fire within each of you, allowing you both to change in ways that would be impossible without the other. Now that tiny fire has grown into a blazing inferno that is your love for each other and I hope that the fire never goes out.

Now, before I finish, I have some words of advice for you two as newlyweds.

Love is the foundation to any relationship and without that, everything else fails, so my first piece of advice is to keep loving each other unconditionally. My second piece of advice is to communicate and compromise with each other. Be open to talking and listening to each other's concerns and ideas so that you two can work things out together because you two are in this together from here on. My third and final piece of advice is to be patient and to forgive. You two are just starting your journey together as husband and wife, so there are bound to be bumps in the road. Don't always be critical of one another and give second chances, because you two are still young and still learning about each other.

Karina and Soren, from the all the essence in my heart, I hope you two live a long and happy life with each other and are able to accomplish everything you desire. I look forward to watching you two in the coming years and seeing how many grandkids I will have.

Congratulations, and love you always,

Mom

"Mom," I whisper as Soren smiles at me while he wipes the tears from my eyes. "Thank you."

"Okay everyone, I think it's now time for the Karina and Soren's first dance." Amelia says as the lights dim and we head towards the dance floor.

"Wise men say, only fools rush in. But I, can't help, falling in love with you."

"I love this song," I say as Soren and I join hands and gently sway to the rich voice of Elvis Presley.

"I know. This is a classic love song and you are a classic kind of girl," Soren says as he spins me gently.

"Shal I stay? Would it be a sin...? If I can't help falling in love with you."

"How do you think my mom knew we would get married?"

"Karina, it was only you who didn't know," Soren chuckles. "Our parents knew first, then I knew when I said I would marry you all those years ago. You on the other hand, I actually don't know what you were thinking."

"Like a river flows, surely to the sea. Darling so it goes, some things, are meant to be."

"I knew I loved you since we were kids, but since so much has gone wrong in my life, I thought this would somehow get ruined just like everything else."

"Sometimes you just have to give it a second chance."

"Take my hand, take my whole life too. For I, can't help, falling in love with you."

"I guess you're right. I love you, Mr. Soren Bjerg."

"I love you too, Mrs. Karina Bjerg."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody!
> 
> Since this is my first book, and probably not the best either, I would like to start by saying thank you to everyone who read this far in the book, commented, and voted. Your support is what really makes writing a whole lot more fun and enjoyable to struggle through writer's block.
> 
> This story was mostly inspired, of course by my love of League of Legends and favouritism towards the mid laner that I learned how to play from. But this was also a project of mine to help myself heal. There have been a lot of changes in my life over the last few years and before writing this, I often felt anxiety and very overwhelmed at everything that was going on. I always loved writing stories and drafting up ideas, so I decided to combine some of my real -ife problems with the fictitious story of Karina and Soren. This has been an amazing experience and has helped me express myself in a way that was both private in keeping my identity hidden and public in the sense that people who were reading my story may be able to relate and help them through their problems in life.
> 
> More specifically, Second Chances is about how I wish I had a second chance with the guy I liked. I've had a bad history with men in my life in general so I had become super cold to any guy that tried to get close to me, except for the guy, because we grew up together and I knew him really well, or so I thought I did. Much like Karina and Soren, we had been really good friends for a long time, but one really stupid incident later and the fact we were going to different schools, meant that we could make it simple and cut ties. I had no idea he was going to do this, so when he stopped talking to me, I was heart broken for over two years. I had just lost the guy who I thought I was going to marry one day, but what really hurt was that the one good guy I had in my life turned out to be a scumbag just like everyone else. He just threw away over a decade of friendship and didn't even have the guts to say goodbye when I left for school. To this day, no matter how much I tell myself I shouldn't, I still miss him and want to reconnect, but I'm scared to. I was so destroyed the first time, so I don't know if I can handle someone coming into my life and just leaving like that again. Life is unfair and it sucks sometimes, but if I could get a clean slate and second chance with him, I would definitely take it because I don't want to live regretting what could have happened.
> 
> Sorry, that was all a little bit of a downer, but anyways, I do plan on continuing to write while I'm back in school, but for now I'm going to enjoy my holidays with my family and hopefully some good story ideas will come to me for my next book.
> 
> Thank you everyone for your continued support
> 
> Love Riddle


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